Unfamiliar Familiarity
by Ugly Kitten
Summary: Third installment of Heal Me, following Wolf's Last Cry. Bri is reborn, with a twin brother. Being an infant isn't fun. What about Kurama? And who is that brat across the steet? Again, KuramaBri, KokoHiei.
1. Default Chapter

Okay, okay, I decided to do it. But hey, if I'm going to do a third sequel, I'm going to do it with style! So, here we go. I would like to thank the following reviewers for requesting this sequel, at the time of this upload (also, I will place who they voted for, which I'll explain in a minute):

Kuramafan-06 (Kurama-Bri)

Sonya-White-Angel (Kurama-Bri)

Peeka-chan (I guess Kurama-Bri)

Sallywalker

SilverDragon (Koko-Hiei)

LoveTheDarkness (Kurama-Bri)

Rai (Koko-Hiei)

Celtic Kitty Cuini

Lisa1214 (I guess Kurama-Bri)

Dunken (Kurama-Bri)

Saori Aki Orimi (Koko-Hiei)

Drama-Mama01 (Koko-Hiei w/ Kurama-Bri)

Sillylittlenothing (Eh…; I got re-inspired…)

Fuzz and Fluff (Kurama-Bri)

Princess Kandra

Just about eight wanting to continue with Kurama-Bri and four for Koko-Hiei. I decided to focus on both couples, but I just can't do anything without complicating it, I'm afraid. So if you've ever been curious about what it's like to be reborn, be curious no more! So, we'll be doing a little bit of looking in on Bri's birth and her (secret) twin brother. Hmm…I wonder who that could be…

Official Summary: Bri finally relents and allows Koenma to get her old man with someone and let her be born in _this_ time stream. However, his "mighty toddler-ness" has a little surprise for her: a twin brother. Who is he?

In addition to that, it seems that our _beloved_ Tsuki's soul has escaped from Spirit World lockdown. Plus, Yusuke's little bout with Sensui is coming back to haunt him after three years of ignoring it. Why did this delay occur between the canon series and this story? Well, you'll want to know.

And who is this little brat that moved in across the street from the Wolfs?

_Unfamiliar Familiarity_

Chapter 1: Conception

…Bri…

You would _think_ I'd learned the first time through that life simply wasn't worth living for someone like me. But I guess I'm just stupid like that. No, I asked Koenma, in all his mighty toddler-ness to give me a new body. I guess living in an eternal restaurant with only the illusion of being alive had finally gotten to me. I was going back _only_ on one condition.

I am _not_ going to see Kurama.

For one, I'd be too young for him. Second, he won't remember me and I just couldn't take that a _second_ time. Lastly, I just didn't want to see him again. It would hurt too much. I would probably break down and cry. Talking to Koko all these years had built up my pride again.

And a weird sense of humor. I mean, staring at a white board and a white wall for fifteen years can do that to a person. But maybe I was humorous only in my own twisted mind. I stood for what I hoped would be the last time in front of his might toddler-ness. He hadn't changed much over the years. Still a toddler, still a pompous brat, and still with those adorable gerbil-cheeks that you couldn't help but want to pinch.

"Hey, Koenma, what's down in the underground?" I grinned.

"You know the risks you're taking, don't you, Bri?" Koenma asked. "You've requested to retain your memories, to remain with the same father. This could cause unwanted repercussions."

I nodded, a sigh falling from me. "Yeah, I know. I've thought and thought about it for fifteen bloody years, Koenma. What the hell do you think?"

"I can't promise to keep you from Kurama."

"I know that."

"I've also received a request from a familiar face. Would you like a twin, Bri?" Koemna chuckled behind his little blue pacifier. "I won't tell you who he is. But I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. This will be his first reincarnation."

"Twin?" I blinked. Could Marion even take twins at his age? Oh, yeah, I forgot how young he was when he'd initially "had" me in the "other life". "Sure. Why not? I could use some company in the womb."

Koenma smiled. "You won't be disappointed, Bri."

I'd always been curious how people found themselves in their mother's wombs. Turns out, it takes a month for a fetus to be ready for a soul. Who knew? Anyway, the process was actually quite simple. The Soul Placer, opposite of the Grim Reaper, takes the soul down the river Styx and finds the fetus in which they are to be placed. Usually, the soul is erased of all memories of their previous life.

I would be an exception to this rule, just as Kurama had been. I guess Koemna saw it as a personal thing, because I'd helped get rid of Tsuki. Apparently, Tsuki had been a major problem to Spirit World long before I was "born". But, I digress. The "past", as it was, is in the "other world" that never was.

This time travel stuff is too dang complicated. I think I'm lucky that Marion found his new wife in a different sort of power. I guess I couldn't complain too much. After all, I was becoming close to Kurama again without actually being near him. Being a half fox demon wouldn't be so bad.

But who was going to be my twin?

"He'll be joining you soon," Koenma assured me. "Uechi, please escort this young lady to the womb of Ichigo Meiji. Soon to be Wolf, of course, but you know that."

"Of course, sir," Uechi said. She had these huge purple eyes that just about took her face over. She reminded me of Botan, except she wore a blue kimono instead of pink. Her hair was the same pink, though. Why was I forever to be haunted by pink?

Uechi brought out an oar, very similar to Botan's, and offered me a seat behind her. I took it with some trepidation. She wasn't as bad a flyer as Botan was, but I can honestly say I was green by the time we entered human world again.

"So you're the girl that has King Yama's undies in a bunch," Uechi said, chortling softly as she slowed the oar down. "He kept saying that we had to get you back in a body."

"Why's that?" Why would King Yama be so worried about little old me?

"Oh, I didn't say anything, you know how it is," Uechi said, giggling softly. "Can't tell you. Cosmic joke and all that. Ah, here we are."

The same house. The same house that Kurama had lived in, in which I had stayed for three blissful years. I stared at it, uncertain. Kurama obviously didn't live there anymore. I sighed as it finally dawned on me; The Wolf family must've taken up residence. Instead of entering the green trimmed house, however, we entered the one next to it. Gun Wa and a strange woman with long, pale brown hair stood in the doorway. My uncle sure had gotten fat since I last saw him…

Wait. That wasn't Gun Wa.

Marion?

Was that my _father?_

Realize, please, that I've never actually seen my real father except for the short time I saw him as a baby. And we never remember those fuzzy images when our eyes don't work, unless you happen to be like Kurama or, soon enough, me. My father looked exactly like I had, well, except for the fatness and the baldness.

I could tell why Koko always said she liked my father best.

The strange woman, however, reminded me a little of Kurama, but not by much. I think it was probably the fact that her hair twisted almost exactly like his did, and her eyes were slim and golden brown. I shivered slightly on Uechi's oar. She reminded me, just ever-so-slightly, of Youko.

"That's Ichigo," Uechi said, smiling. "Isn't she pretty? I hope you come out looking like her, she's so pretty. Well, in you go."

She settled the oar right up next to the woman's stomach. I stared at the flat, smooth coppery skin, showing just ever-so-slightly from her midriff blue shirt. It was too soon in the pregnancy for her to even know, maybe, that she was pregnant at all. But, knowing that Marion did already know and that they were planning on getting married, I knew that she did. I just hoped that she would be happy to know that she was getting twins.

I swallowed once before letting my soul shiver and take its ethereal, blue cloudy form. I couldn't hear or see in this form, but I knew where I needed to go. I allowed the pull of the womb to drag me in and nestled in the fetus that would soon test positive as female. It was strange.

I could hear the outside world still, barely. Marion's voice was soft, filled with a gentle timber. I could see why Koko liked him. He reminded me of myself. Ichigo's gentle, whispery voice was very different from what I'd thought she'd sound. I guess first impressions really aren't a good base to go on. The gentle beat of Ichigo's heart, the slosh of the womb, soothed me in ways you wouldn't understand. It was like being lulled to sleep. I was still fish-like, which was weird in its own right.

There was another body in here, one that I knew had yet to be filled with a soul. I couldn't see anything, but I could sense that it was there. It felt dead. Was this why stillborns were born? Because they simply didn't have a soul?

I listened to the outside, curious. Although I was still trying to develop hearing, I could sense the vibrations of the voices. Ichigo was pleasant to the "ears" and Marion sounded like he could probably sing pretty flat. It was a strange feeling, trying to figure out what they were saying when I couldn't hear anything more than pleasant rumbling and the incessant but soothing sound of my new mother's heartbeat.

It was only a few minutes later that another presence made itself known. The fetal form of my brother, which before had felt dead, was now alive. It was like he was blinking in the womb, but he couldn't really do that. After a few minutes of disoriented silence, he turned to me in the womb. We both kind of floated there, at a loss. I mean, how do you communicate with someone with no ears, no mouth, and really not much of a brain just yet.

_Hey, you're Bri, right? Koenma said I'd 'see' you here._

I "blinked" in surprise. _You're…_

_The one and only._

_I never thought I'd get to see you again…_

_Do I know you? Koenma only told me your name…_

I smiled sadly in my tiny mind. _I'll explain. We have eight months, after all, Kuronue._

_Indeed._

…

…

…

Okay, who saw that one coming? Anyone? Anyone? Or maybe I'm just being an idiot thinking that it would shock anyone.

To all of my readers (WOW, I actually get to say that and have people to be talking to! LOL) I thank you deeply. You have no idea how much I appreciate your reviews, your support, and your ideas. Did any of you know that Bri is actually a character in an original story of mine and that Heal Me was in fact a "playground story" for me to test her character out?

I didn't think I'd get half as many people who enjoyed it. In all matter of fact, I didn't think I would get more than maybe two or three people who enjoyed it to this extent. So, everyone, thank you for this great surprise. Maybe this story will give me my fan fiction review goal: One hundred reviews.

So, what'd you guys think of it?


	2. Ultrasound

Disclaimer: Yu Yu is a goo goo parade now because of me. ;; Okay, so I don't own it and this is only a fan fic. Just don't sue me!

Chapter 2: Ultrasound

…Koko…

"Where are we going again?" Hiei grunted next to me softly. We were in Dad's car, headed for the hospital for my new Aunt Ichigo's latest ultrasound. This was the first time that Hiei would get to see something like this, or at least, I think so.

"The hospital," I answered shortly. Luckily, it was only Dad, Hiei, and I in the little red Mitsubishi. Dad elaborated.

"Humans usually monitor their pregnancies using advanced medical techniques. It's how we discover what sex the baby is, if it will be born healthy, and what problems might come up when it comes time for the birth."

"Hn. What an utter waste."

"Not at all," Dad said. "It results in healthier births and we're more prepared for it if things go wrong."

Hiei must have sensed me tense up at this, because he laid a quick, comforting hand over mine. It was short, almost unnoticeable. But I knew he'd done it. He knew I didn't want anything to happen to Bri again. Not after what had happened in the other time stream. Keiko was coming to the hospital with us next time. It was a school day, and I was lucky enough that Dad had gotten me out to go see Ichigo and Marion.

When I met Uncle Marion in the other time stream, I had been a very small, ferocious one-year-old, according to Dad. I was too young to remember much more than a bald head and a hand in my teeth. Having grown up with him and my godmother, Gina, was something I now wouldn't give up for anything—except Bri. And now, I wouldn't have to because she was coming back to us.

"Hello, hello, Wolf Cubby!" Gina shouted upon me opening the car door. She hugged me round the middle and carried me off the ground into a hug. I think she would have done the same to Hiei, but he managed to dodge to the other side of Dad. Lucky. She pecked Dad quickly on the cheek. He smiled at her and nodded a quick bow in sorrow. I knew why.

Ayame.

Notice that I haven't exactly mentioned her since the last time we chatted. Don't worry, she's not dead or anything. She just…She wanted to go home. Back to the Makai. Of course, Koenma couldn't deny her that, and Dad, well, he wanted her happy. Just like every lover wants their partner to be happy, even if they're not with them. Just like Bri had been when she realized she had to sacrifice herself…

I promised myself I wouldn't cry again.

Not again.

Hiei glanced at me as we trailed behind Dad and Gina into the hospital. He placed a soft kiss on my cheek and whispered in my ear. "What's wrong?"

"I miss her."

I didn't have to say whom.

"I will ask him if you can visit her later."

I didn't have to ask who "him" was. He was talking about Koenma.

"But I don't want to alert _him_ to me."

"I will deal with the fox. You must see your mother."

I knew how entirely uncomfortable he was despite the fact that he kept his voice level, soft, and mild. I could sense it, sure, but I also knew him better than that. His mother hadn't left him as mine had for a home that she loved as much as she loved my father and me. His mother's so-called friends had torn him from his mother and threw him to the sharks of the Makai forests, an infant with only a jewel and a will to live.

I reached over and squeezed his hand, the same way he had done for me in the car. A tiny smile, unnoticeable I think to anyone but me, crossed his face so briefly, even I barely caught it. But I saw it.

"Getting soft, _Snowball_?" I murmured in his ear.

"Hn. Not at all, _Keiko_."

I slammed my fist into his stomach as hard as I could. I knew it wouldn't do anything, but it still felt good to let him know I did _not _like reminders of Tsuki Sawaguchi. Even after fifteen long years, my own death and the deaths of everyone I knew was still heavy on my heart. Chyah. Listen to me. Getting all freakin' sentimental.

But…

I guess it's a granted, knowing that today, I was going to see what would become Bri for the first time in fifteen years. Granted, she wouldn't become the same Bri I'd known before Tsuki. She wouldn't be the same person that Kurama loved. But she was still Bri, and she was still, in a way, my sister.

Dad and Gina led the way along yet another white-washed hall, the glaring lights of the hospital hurting my eyes and the stench of alcohol and cleaner burning my nose. Even Hiei looked uncomfortable in the white, dressed in all black as he was. He stuck out like a crow among doves. Gina glanced over her shoulder at us, grinning away. Actually, I'd never found out if she remembered everything or not. She _was_ sort of weak as an Empathe. I guess I'll never find out, because she's always been happily mysterious. She was worse than Botan.

I missed Botan, too.

How freakin' stupid is that?

I just wish I could tell Keiko all about it…Let her know, hey, we were kind of good friends back in this other time stream that you might kinda get some déjà vu vibes from. Yeah, that's what I'd do. And then, I'd somehow become the walking impersonation of that one song about the men in white coming to take me away. Ha ha!

Yeah.

We sat down in a waiting room, the four of us. Hiei and Gina would have to wait outside, because they weren't family. How freakin' stupid. Dad and I only had to wait a few minutes for the doctors to come out and get us and lead us to this tiny room. Aunt Ichigo was on the table, her stomach covered in this clear jelly stuff. The doctor had this big wand thing that he put on her watermelon-sized stomach and, on a tiny TV screen, he pointed out two moving figures.

_Two_ moving figures.

I hadn't expected that. Had they split Bri's soul into two parts? Was that even possible? Was she going to completely forget, like the others, or was she going to remember?

"Twins," Uncle Marion said proudly. "A boy and a girl."

_A BOY?_

"That's great, Marion!" Dad grinned ear-to-ear. "Wait until we tell Gina, she's going to be so happy."

"Yes, she will be," Marion smiled. "Hey, Kokomo. How do you like your cousins?"

"They're cute," I said, hoping to sound convincing. You couldn't really see much on that screen. I was a little disappointed, to tell the truth. But it was neat to see them. I wondered if Bri had really been split, or if she just had another soul joining hers. It was a little weird imagining Bri as a boy.

Of course, with her short hair…

I suppose I'll just have to wait until she can talk to find out.

Marion smiled at me, threading his hand through Ichigo's fingers. "We want you and Hiei to be their godparents, Koko. I know that might seem like a big task for someone your age…"

"We accept," I said, grinning. This was going to be interesting. "Have you thought of names for them?" I was going to start panicking if I had to call Bri by any other name.

"We've decided on the girl already," Ichigo said as the doctor began to wipe away the jelly stuff. "A reverse of yours. Bridget Kokomo Wolf."

Inwardly, I sighed in relief. "And the boy?"

"We're not sure yet," Marion admitted. "We weren't expecting the boy. We only discovered him on this visit, actually."

"How can you miss a baby in such a limited space?" I asked, blinking.

"It's a simple matter of the ultrasound. If it gets disrupted by anything, sometimes we can't see everything inside," the doctor explained. "The boy is nearer to the bottom of the womb, and therefore was difficult to see."

"Oh…" I nodded. It made sense, I guess.

Dad and I left to let Ichigo and Marion check out and stuff on their own (and let Ichigo get dressed). I explained to Hiei what they were planning on doing about us. He grunted, but I could see a pale pink flush over his cheeks. He was pleased. He hadn't been exactly close to Bri, but it had been her, after all, that brought us together. I think he was grateful to her, in his own way.

"Now all we have to do," I murmured quietly, "is keep them away from Kurama."

"Good luck," Hiei snorted.

I punched him in the stomach again.

…

…

…

;; I'm sure Hiei is a bit OOC, but I think this is what he'd behave like. Eheh. ;; I actually added this chapter in so we could have a little Koko-Hiei action and let you get a little acquainted with Marion and know what happened to Ayame and I'm rambling. Thank you all again!

Kuramafan-06: No worries just yet, we've got to do a little time-jumping before we have to worry about our _dear_ Tsuki Sawaguchi. My favorite chapter is when Kurama meets Bri again, but that'll be a while…;;

XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: Expect the unexpected with me.

Princess Kandra: Yup, I brought him back. I couldn't help it! ;; Um…;;

Peeka-chan: I'm glad to know that someone likes Bri that much to Whoot over her coming back. And everyone loves Kuronue. WHOOT for me, too! I love the bat boy. But he's not a bat boy any more…;;;

Sonya-White-Angel: I don't think anyone's come to any sort of guess as to how I'm going to get those two back together…Hint: Kurama's going to teach at Meikou High.

Sallywalker: Will do.


	3. Birth of Two Foxes

Disclaimer: I dun own YYH, but I do own Bri. Yup. Bri. And a lot of this plot, too…Since I don't know the origin of the whole "What do you want to do" sequence, I'm just going to say I don't own it and leave it at that. Prolly Jungle Book…

Chapter 3: Birth of Two Foxes

…Bri…

_What do you want to do today?_

_I dunno, what do you want to do?_

_Swim around some more?_

_It's getting kinda cramped in here. Wonder how much longer we need to be?_

Kuronue slumped against one side of the womb at this, an inaudible sigh coming from his mind. We had developed our own little system and, well, since Kuronue now had my—_our_—father's powers, we could speak pretty much to each other through our minds. I waited for the inevitable pronouncement.

_Well, aren't we the ones who decide?_

_Yeah, but still…I don't want to cause Mother any more pain than necessary._

_Yes, true. _

_I wonder where we are in the pregnancy? We started kicking a little earlier than we should've, too._

_Didn't she say we were a couple of days away yesterday?_

_I think so._

_Then we wait until they're asleep and spring it on them!_

Sometimes I couldn't get over my new brother's devious mind. I knew I would let him go first. He _was_ actually older than me, but a lot older than just a few minutes. I guess it's just kind of weird. It's never actually happened before that two people who know about their previous lives are born again in a womb together who happened to know each other in that previous life.

Why is my life so dang complicated?

Oh, yeah, because I was born in another life to a half cat demon—

Not thinking about that again.

I had a new life.

_I want to go first,_ I said.

No way! I'm going! I'm older! 

If we could have glared, we would have. But you know, it's awfully dark inside the womb. No wonder babies scream when they come out. It's probably too bright! I sighed and gave a rough kick to the interior walls.

_Fine. You go first. _

_Thank you._

I scowled, or at least attempted to. He couldn't "see" it, but I knew he knew it was there. The "advantages" of having a twin who was just as Empathic as you were. I sighed and sank up against the wall of the womb, me being the higher child anyway. It would have been difficult to get around Kuronue anyway. I sighed. I would have to start thinking of him as "Okuro" soon enough.

_They're asleep, Kitten._

_Don't call me that._

_I'm your brother, I get to call you whatever I want. I'm going for it._

He pushed past me and started downward. I heard the panicked cries of Ichigo and then Marion's scrambling. I could already tell that this was going to be a night to remember. I'd never even seen a birth on TV before, forget remembering my own with Tsuki. Now I was going to be a major player in a birth and I wasn't the mother or the father. I was the baby. Well, one of the babies.

I heard the car start (at least that's what I think it was) and suddenly dozens of voices all yelling. Kuronue's "voice" shouted at me.

_You'd think there was a baby being born with all this racket._

I smirked, getting ready for my own nose-dive outta this place. I didn't want Kuronue to be able to gloat over more than a couple of minutes. We were both starting new. I had a feeling that if Koko as a sister was bad, having Kuronue as a brother was just gonna be worse.

The sounds of screams in the air, the slick wetness of my mother's womb leaving me. I can't describe it entirely, the feeling of suddenly being born. We all go through it, and yet…I'm one of few people who will ever know what it's like. To suddenly be free of the womb when you'd been inside it for so long. It was like breaking free from the only safe haven you've ever found.

The doctors cleaned me off and cut my umbilical cord. They put some black stuff on my feet and made me press them against some paper. They measured me and weighed me. I stared up at them all. I was scared, even though somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew they were only doing their job. It wasn't until I was in my mother's arms, looking into the golden brown depths and at the smile that I was safe.

I spied Kuronue on the other side of her, on her other breast, feeding. He had our dad's dark brown hair, darker still. Almost black. His ears were pointed, but not atop his head like a true fox demon's were. When he opened his eyes, a pair of blues smiled at me secretly. I acted like a true baby and nuzzled my mother's breast for milk, hoping that I looked just like him.

"The girl is Bridget Kokomo Wolf," Marion, our father, said, softly brushing his hand on my back. "I believe we wanted the boy to be Okuro, right, love?"

"Yes, Okuro Marion Wolf," Mother said. Kuronue would have to get used to a new name.

_Oh, bite me, I can live with being called 'little black'._

_Are you sure?_

_The question is, can _you_ handle being half fox demon?_

_What do you mean?_

_They become sexually mature at thirteen._

Damn.

…

…Koko…

I stared at her in utter awe. I will never forget the expression of pure joy on her little pudgy baby face. When she started gaggling and googling at me in the baby language I had spent so long trying to make my father understand as an infant, I knew it was her. I held her, clothed in a baby snap set that I had when I was a baby. She was so _tiny_. Were babies always this tiny? Maybe it was the fact that Okuro and she were born a week early. I raised my Dream energy carefully.

_Finally, I thought you'd _never_ do that!_

"Bri!" I nearly dropped her, I was so startled. Hiei glanced up from Okuro, whom he was holding at my request.

_Don't _do _that, I'm fragile!_

"Yeah…we kind of noticed," I said weakly. "I missed you."

"She can still think coherently with that infant's brain?" Hiei asked, shifting Okuro's weight on his hips. It was almost comical to see the all-powerful Snowball with an infant in his arms. He was the perfect father. Oh, if I was _only_ three years older…

"Yes, just like I could," I said. "Something about…oh, never mind. Bri—"

_Wait, Hiei remembered?_ Bri thought at me.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. He showed up just after the last time we talked," I said. "Somehow, my Empathe abilities transferred over to him when we mated…And even though we're _not_ mated in this time stream, he remembered…"

Bri made a face that only an infant can make. _Don't do that, my brain hurts bad enough thinking coherently. I'm only a week old!_

I laughed, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

_Hey, now, don't cry…Guess who Okuro is?_

I glanced at the boy in Hiei's arms. "Who?"

_Kuronue!_

"Kuronue? Like, Kurama's ex-partner, Kuronue? Does _he_ remember?"

No, he didn't. I explained it to him. Hello, eight months in a womb with nothing to do makes Bri bored. And ex-bat-boy and I had some catching up to do. He does remember Kurama, though. He made a deal with Koenma, same as me. His mighty toddler-ness thought it would be a pleasant cosmic joke, of sorts. 

I laughed. "It's good to 'hear' your voice again, Bri."

Okuro, or rather, Kuronue's, voice came up in my mind, after being silent for most of the exchange. _Hey, what about me? Bri said you knew me…sort of…_

"Hello to you, too, Kuronue," I laughed. "Nice to see you again. Although…last time I saw you, you had violet eyes and you were two feet over my head."

Nice to know I was that size at one point…Kuronue sighed in his babyish way. I nearly lost it again. Bri smiled up at me, her pudgy cheeks making her eyes close.   
Hey, can a girl get a mirror? 

"You don't know what you look like?" I stared at her. "Aunt Ichigo already used some kitsune illusion on you, Bri. Your ears are so adorable. Too bad Okuro didn't get them."

What! 

"She's right. You were born a copper kitsune," Hiei said.

He set Kuronue down on the floor and I let Bri down beside him. The two infants looked very much like their previous incarnations, and yet they were completely different. For one thing, Bri had shimmering natural gold highlights in amidst her normal dark brown. It was a reflection of her kitsune nature that Ichigo hadn't wanted to erase.

_This is going to be a long few years_. Bri sighed, letting one pudgy fist rest on Kuronue's shoulder in a gesture that was definitely not infantine in nature.

_Indeed._

"You two are going to have to be careful with what you say around Marion," I said. "He is, after all, where you get those powers from. I mean, I'm sure you can still think normally…but no huge words or thought concepts. Ya know?"

_She's right_. Kuronue said. _If we blow our cover, there's no telling what our new father's reaction will be._

_You can say that again_. Bri rolled her pale blue eyes. _I didn't even know him long enough in my past life and I know that he'd go ballistic. No telling what Ichigo will do, either._

Kuronue scowled in a way only his face, I think, could pull off. _The truth bites. Could one of you change my diaper?_

Even Hiei cracked a smile.

…

…

…

I'm still debating whether or not to take the Hiei-smile down…eh, I'll leave it. So what do you think of birth from the baby's POV? Oo And now, Koko and Hiei know. Now, here's a question that some of you may want to ask, but please don't because I'm going to answer it right now.

Why can Hiei understand and "hear" them?

I borrowed a little of fanon lore from some of the…er…higher-rated stories that I sometimes read. (Yes, bad UK.) Basically, Koko and Hiei have formed a "bond" through their abnormal natures and their previous "mating" in the other time stream. This mating somehow crossed over the time stream and allows them to still have some of the other's attributes, even though they didn't _actually_ mate in this time stream.

Princess Kandra: No pokey da authoress! Hey, I think I update pretty dang often, ne? Better than some…coughKireicoughthreecoughmonths.

Kuramafan: This chapter was all for you, cakes! I promised a couple days ago. I prolly would have told all about her, too. But I think Koko understands the magnitude of the situation. I know that she hasn't told Keiko yet…or any of the other YYH gang…

Sillylittlenothing: Well, you'll just have to wait and see how I make it all "work out" with Kurama. It's a bit on the interesting side…O.o I wonder if anyone's used the idea before…Never seen it before, myself, but perhaps it has been used. I love Hiei, he's just so much fun to poke and prod at. I was going to have Kuronue pee on him, but…decided against it. Hiei's smarter than that.

Peeka-chan: I never thought about that…O.o Well, if he will be able to turn into his old self, it won't be for a while. Actually, I think that has more to do with Kurama's fox skills and I don't know exactly how "fox" Kuronue has become. After all, he didn't get the foxy fox ears. Hmm…food to chew on for a while…

SilverDragon: That was my own mind's justification for it…I couldn't decide whether to keep Hiei at a distance from Bri or not. In the end, I decided that he becomes Mr. Godparent in his own screwball, Makai-bred way. O.o I'm just weird like that…


	4. Diaper for Hiei

I don't own YYH. I refused to out-and-out type the word "disclaimer". Dang it. I did it anyway!

Chapter 4: Diaper for Hiei

…Bri…

If you've ever changed a diaper for the first time, you know how mortifying it is having to clean up after the baby. If you've ever been the baby, God help you. It's ten times as bad, because you have to be cleaned up after. I found this out the first time my mother had to change me, but it's a zillion times worse when it came to _Hiei_ changing me. I mean, I liked Koko's fiancé, but…

Don't even ask me how Koko got him to change me in the first place.

Mortification knows no boundaries.

_Why couldn't you change _Kuronue

"Hn."

Although Hiei didn't really answer out loud, I had a funny feeling I knew the reason why Hiei had chosen to change me instead. My twin brother had a very unique sense of humor and found vast amusement in peeing on whoever was changing him. In the three months I had known him as Okuro Marion Wolf, we had become closer than the near force I would undoubtedly relearn later on in physical science class. We knew each other like the back of the other's hand.

It helped that we both had a past with one Youko Kurama, although it was different personalities of him. I blatantly told my "new" twin that I would not see Kurama ever again, and if he wanted to, he would have to wait until we were old enough to be separated in our parents' eyes.

Hiei threw away the old diaper in disgust and began the arduous task of putting on a new one. I had barely any control over my own body. That would come of my physical mind coming in tune with my body. Other than the fact that my soul was actually about nineteen years old, I was a half human, half fox demon infant.

Hey, you're going to have to do it when you have kids of your own with Koko in three years, ya know.

Hiei didn't answer as he finished sticking the diaper around my waist and lifted me gently off the table. I had to admit, I hadn't actually thought of Hiei as a gentle person, but he'd proven me wrong. Either that, or I was just actually stronger in my halfling form. I doubted it, though, copper kitsune weren't generally powerful. In fact, it took them years to be able to manipulate a simple plant.

I had, of course, requested the absence of roses.

Nothing to remind me of Kurama.

Although, I must admit, I do that pretty well myself. Have you noticed? Okuro stared at me from Koko's arms as the couple put us in our crib. His wide blue eyes narrowed at me when I moved without "comment" to take our afternoon nap.

You never answered my question. Why can't we see Kurama? 

The same question he'd asked ever since two weeks after we had come home. Since I had told him we wouldn't be seeing Kurama, ever. Keiko had come over, along with Yusuke and Kuwabara a few times. I swear I think they recognized me, even in my infant form. I refused to let Koko allow Kurama anywhere near our nursery.

Anywhere near me.

I sighed. This was the last time I was going to listen to Kuronue's question. Months of the same question really didn't do a girl good.

I was his girlfriend. My mother in our past life killed him. I don't want to see that again, okay? Are you happy now?

Kuronue stared at me as Koko tucked the blue baby blanket around his shoulders. _No. Of course not._

_What do you want from me, Okuro?_

_I want my twin sister to be happy._

Hiei tucked the pink baby blanket around me and the couple turned out the lights. Okuro couldn't see the sad smile that I had on my face, but I think he knew it was there.

Then don't ever let me near Youko Kurama again.

…

…

…

This chapter was short, but I just had to put it up. ;; Hiei, changing a diaper. Come on, admit it, it's funny! And I wanted to reinforce Bri's reasoning for not wanting to see Kurama again. Yeah, so, there's my short, two-page chapter that came two days early.

Also, I wanted to announce my second piece of art for this fic. You can find it on Media Miner Dot Org, under my alias there angel (underscore) indigo. It's called Sleeping Foxes and it portrays a future scene. Here's a major hint on how this is all going to work out: She's wearing a Meikou High School uniform.

Kuramafan-06: I would draw it, but I've already got four requests on other topics at the moment and that's overwhelming enough with this to write on top of that. Plus several other fics…I'm a bad, bad UK.

Celtic Kitty: I'm glad to be providing a good escape from finals, but are you sure you want to divert your attention from them? Of course you do! Nobody wants to focus on school all the time. That was me before I got into anime. Yup, bad times, bad times…

Sillylittlenothing: Actually, if you've seen after Sensui, Hiei becomes remarkably more expressive in his facial features. This is especially true around his friends. I think Hiei would smile a lot more often. And he even laughs just before Yusuke "defeats" Sensui. I like Hiei's character, and I believe I've been true to it.

SilverDragon: Eheh…I loved that review almost as much as I liked Kuronue's little bit at the end. I got a good chuckle out of it. Arigatou!


	5. Missing

Disclaimer: Ya'll know by now after at least fifty chapters of story that I don't own YYH, but I do own Bri.

Chapter 5: Missing

…Kurama…

Something is missing.

I have felt it ever since I was a freshman at Meikou High School, ever since that first morning in Gun Wa-Sensei's biology class. _Something is wrong. _I just can't seem to think of what. It had nothing to do with our missions, which were remedial at best. I trained with Yusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei was there often as well. He usually trained alone, but I also knew that he was helping his soon-to-be mate, Kokomo Wolf. With what, I did not know.

I sighed and stretched my legs lazily under my desk. In just two short weeks, I would be graduating and heading to college. My mother was pleased with my decision to continue on to be a teacher. Despite his similarities to a certain Toguro brother, Gun Wa-Sensei was a very pleasant man and very supportive of my decision. In fact, he offered me a job after my education was completed.

A soft knock echoed in my room.

"Shuichi-kun, Keiko and Koko are here to see you," my mother's voice said. "And your friend Hiei is with them."

"Okay, mother, thank you," I said. I set my pencil and notebook down, in which I had been writing haiku poetry (in English) for my English teacher, Gunner. She was also Koko's aunt. I found it interesting that Kokomo Wolf was related to at least half of the teachers at Meikou, or in some way family friends with them. Sometimes I wondered where her mother, Ayame, had gone. It was not my place to ask.

I entered the living room, where Hiei was already sitting on the couch uncomfortably between Keiko and Koko. Koko looked like she was going to be ill. "Good afternoon. Is something wrong?"

"I was talking to Koko earlier. She said that you've never met Okuro and Bri," Keiko said. Bri? That name…"They're her cousins."

I blinked in surprise. Then why did Koko look like she was about to cry and Hiei look about ready to wring Keiko's neck? "Of course, I would love to meet them."

"You'll love them," Keiko said. "It's almost like they understand a lot more than they're letting on. They're both geniuses! They can read and write already, even thought they're only three. It's amazing."

I allowed one of my brows to rise in question. This was something that was almost unheard of in the human world, but it was something familiar to me. I had heard it all only once before. Just once.

When "I" was small.

"Yes, amazing," I said. "You said they were three already?" Why hadn't I learned of them sooner?

"Yeah, I kind of kept my little cousins a secret," Koko said wryly. "I didn't want people just suddenly barging in on my Uncle Marion and Aunt Ichigo."

I sometimes wondered about this family. Marion's name was foreign, but from what I knew of Koko's family, they were only half German. I was certain that Marion was not a German name, but in fact a Native American name. Perhaps they had simply wanted "different" names? After all, Gunner and Gun Wa were also not normal Japanese names.

"It was by chance that Keiko found out," Koko continued after a few moments. "They were staying the night over at my house when she came over for a math assignment."

"And it's a good thing I did, you and Hiei had your hands full with those two!"

Koko blushed sheepishly, something I rarely saw in her. "Well, Snowball wasn't exactly a skilled babysitter, then, either!"

Hiei merely grunted and moved toward the door. I could tell he was ruffled by his girlfriend's statement. It was amusing, in an alarming sort of way, to know that Hiei had been, at least on the surface, helping her care for two infant children. I mused in my mind what possible situations my old partner could have gotten himself into.

"The funny thing is, they aren't entirely—" Keiko cut herself off, glancing around the room. In a whisper, she added, "_human._"

"What do you mean?" I asked, also keeping my voice quiet.

"Their mother is a fire fox spirit," Keiko answered, her voice barely audible, even to my own sensitive ears. I wasn't entirely sure I'd heard correctly. Fire fox spirits were very common and were usually the type that were able to cross into the human world with some ease. "Koenma is keeping an eye on her, but she's apparently a weaker spirit, only around the lower C level. She's apparently very connected to Inari, though, so he can't do much else."

I blinked in shock at my good friend. I had known that Yusuke was explaining more to her these days, but I hadn't known that she knew _that_ much about our missions. And, being a silver kitsune myself, I knew what an honor it was to be connected to Inari in such an intimate way. Halfling children of a fire fox spirit were very blessed, if Inari indeed had blessed them. I wondered.

Hiei glanced at me. A flash of uneasiness flew across his red eyes. I'd seen that look on his face several times before, but never in this sort of situation. I was slightly stunned to see just how much he'd changed in these past three years. Even Kuwabara had noticed it. I think it had everything to do with Kokomo Wolf.

It was only a matter of time before he marked her.

Sometimes I wondered why he hadn't yet. Hiei usually got exactly what he wanted when he wanted it.

"We should go before their naptime comes," Keiko said, standing up and walking over to their shoes by the front door. Had I not been looking for it, I would have missed the worried glance that passed between Koko and Hiei. There was something more amiss than they were letting on. I told my mother where I was going and stepped into my own shoes.

I followed the others onto a train and waited for the familiar ride to Nemoi. Wait a second…I've never been to the Nemoi District. Why would it be familiar to me? I held firm to the bar overhead as the city flew by outside. Keiko had continued telling me about the two three-year-old Wolf children, although I admit that I hadn't paid much more attention after she started going into some story about her and Yusuke again.

It wasn't that I didn't want to hear it; I was very fond of Yusuke and Keiko both. I had, in fact, been there for this particular story, and I had heard it from both of them several times over. One can only laugh at a funny story so many times. I was more curious to figure out why I was so eager to "return" to a place I'd never been to.

The pleasant feminine voice echoed over the speakers: "Nemoi Station. Please exit to your left and have a nice day."

Why was it that I felt I'd known that sentence for far longer than those three seconds? I followed Koko, Hiei, and Keiko off of the train and down onto the street. It was unmarked, as most Japanese streets were, but I knew that most people called it the "main street" of Nemoi. I stared at the trolley station, something familiar as well. I saw the approaching rickety wooden trolley approaching on its wire. The Ma n' Pa atmosphere, interrupted only by a McDonalds a little further down the street. An arcade full of DDR machines, a favorite game of Yusuke and Kuwabara, and secretly of mine.

Why did it seem like I'd passed all of this before? And not on just a single instance, but many, many times. Years. Years that had seemed so intentionally wrong and yet in every way correct.

"Hey, Kurama, you just gonna stand there and gawk? Or do I have to kick you in the balls to make you walk? Hey, I think I rhymed!" Koko grinned back at me wickedly. She'd done this on several occasions, but for some reason, I could see her doing it here, in this place, more than once.

"I am coming, Wolf-san," I said, climbing aboard my normal seat—the first time I'd ever done so?—next to her and Hiei. Keiko sat in the wooden seat in front of us. I couldn't help but feel that something was still missing. The trolley lurched once, at the same old slow pace. The pace that I wasn't supposed to know and yet I did.

The trolley station came into view, but somehow I knew that we wouldn't be waiting that long to get off. Sure enough, Koko pushed at me to get off in front of a large white house with blue and gold trim. The front yard held two lovely trees, a cherry tree and a red maple, both still young. I ran along the ground as if I'd done it several times before, although I'm positive I hadn't.

"You're a natural at this, Kurama," Koko giggled nervously. Keiko plopped onto her knees shakily.

"I still need to work on that," Keiko admitted sheepishly. I offered her a hand up and she took it. When I turned back around to head into the house that Koko was already knocking at, I stopped short. The house next door…that green trim…that single cherry tree…

"That's Koko's house," Keiko said, smiling. "That's where Gun Wa-Sensei and she lives. I spent the night once, he's really different at home. Not as strict."

"Interesting," I said lightly. I turned my attention firmly away from the house. I couldn't help the thought that splayed itself all across the interior of my mind.

_That used to be _my_ house._

But I'd never moved a day in my life!

How was that possible?

I remembered…a basement bedroom…a room next to mine…a face…

I shook the image from my mind. I'd never been here before. I certainly never lived in this part of Tokyo, I've never had a basement bedroom, and I know I've never had a room next to a woman aside from my own mother's. I couldn't get the slightly chubby girl's face from my mind. She reminded me tentatively of Koko, but her hair was short and her eyes more innocent and a little sad.

A fierce love of Dance Dance Revolution.

An artist's hand.

Gabriel, the angel of fate…

College…

Who was this girl?

And why am I remembering her as if I knew her?

"Hey, Uncle Marion, can we go see Bri and Okuro?" Koko asked as I followed Keiko onto the porch. "You know Shuichi from school, right? He hasn't gotten the chance to see them yet and—"

"Of course, of course!" Marion-Sensei smiled brightly at me. "Can't have a friend not seeing them, eh? Nice to see you outside of school, Shuichi, I was beginning to think you lived there!"

I chuckled softly. Our mathematics teacher was indeed a very jolly fellow, and he deserved two children of his own. At least I wasn't getting those strange, familiar-but-unfamiliar vibes from him. In fact, those strange feelings had begun when I first met Kokomo Wolf at Meikou High School. Maybe this all surrounded her, somehow. Or perhaps I am getting paranoid.

I hope that was not the case.

I kicked off my shoes at the front porch and left them neatly by the door. Marion called into the house for someone named "Ichigo", whom I supposed was his wife. I turned out to be correct, as she appeared soon after. She took one look at me, then at Keiko, Koko, and Hiei, and a broad smile split across her face.

She reminded me of myself, in several ways, with pale golden hair and slim, fox-like eyes.

"You're no ordinary human," she pronounced immediately.

"Nor are you," I said, letting a small smile answer hers. "You serve Inari."

"You do not." A flicker of concern crossed her eyes. I smiled disarmingly. I didn't want to alarm her. Most kitsune that did not serve Inari were considered to be bad omens.

"I serve Koenma above Inari."

She smiled in relief. "It is a pleasure to meet the great Youko at last. I've caught your scent around many times."

Marion-Sensei looked back and forth between his wife and myself, a seemingly normal human boy from his math class. With a muttered "Whatever", he threw both arms into the air and turned back into the living room. He began watching television, obviously tuning us out. Ichigo laughed.

"Your real name is not Ichigo, of course," I said, smiling.

"You should really try to conceal your own name more often," she shot back with the all-too-well-known kitsune smirk.

"Touché."

"How do I know you're not here to steal my kits?"

I smiled again. "I would not wish the wrath of both Kokomo and Hiei on my head."

She smirked again. "Well said. You may see them."

Ichigo let her illusion fall, letting me see the true her as she walked into the Western-style living room with her husband. She truly was beautiful, even for a kitsune. Golden ears and a golden tail, tipped with a splash of red. Kitsune, fire kitsune in particular, were known for their seductive movements and Ichigo, whoever she really was, was no exception to this rule.

And she was all Marion's as far as I was concerned.

Hiei tapped me on the shoulder, gently. I have never known him to be so gentle. Perhaps being in this place brought out a different side to the demon I thought I had known. I followed them through the house, allowing the familiarity of this strange scent wash over me. I _knew_ this scent, the scent so similar to carnations, prairie grass, and something indescribable, and yet it was warped, strange.

The house itself was warm, welcoming, and at the same time intimidating. It reminded me of my own home back in the Makai, in fact. Bright colors embraced each room, toned down by chosen piece of art. Keiko led the way up red-carpeted stairs, but I couldn't help but stop short to stare off to the side.

On the white walls, strange for any part of this house because nothing else was white, were drawings. Paintings. Sketches. Every single sketch was of several different people, but one painting in particular caught my eyes. It was of a small girl who I felt I recognized but couldn't possibly and of a small boy I couldn't miss if I tried. He looked a tad different, perhaps the nature of the painting. But I would recognize that mischievous grin anywhere.

Kuronue.

"Can you believe that a three-year-old drew those?" Keiko asked, breaking me from my thoughts. "I've sat and watched Bri at it. She can draw just about anything."

"That is a rather unusual talent for a three-year-old to possess," I said. _Just like the ability to steal Mommy's keys without her knowing,_ I added silently.

"Okuro's a bit stranger," Keiko admitted, pulling me away from the art pieces I now knew were by Bri. "He's a mischievous little boy and quite the pickpocket. If his mother has something he wants and she says no, somehow he always gets it."

I tried to catch Hiei's eye, but he was either avoiding me or too focused on getting to the nursery to care. These skills suggested that these two children were not merely children. I wondered if Koenma knew about them. Surely if Hiei was involved, he had informed our toddler boss?

Or perhaps Koenma had already known.

Then why would they keep this from me for so long?

The upstairs room was large, covering the entire house. Koko struggled with a baby gate for a few moments before letting the three of us pass and replacing the gate behind her. I didn't notice the two children at first because they seemed to be nowhere in sight, though I could feel their energy levels in the room.

The nursery was a pleasant shade of blue, but the thing that got the most of my attention were the bookshelves. Had I not already been told that this was a nursery, I would have thought it was a private library. I stared at some of the titles on the shelves, perplexed. There were no actual picture books, as was customary for children of three year old to be reading. I had found them intriguing as a "small child" myself because I was still learning about my human culture.

But these books…

These were definitely not normal three-year-olds if they could read and comprehend Dante's _Inferno_ and the Canterbury tales. There were also language books, though these were probably more their age's speed.

Another thing that made me wonder was the state of the room itself. It was entirely spic and span, not a speck of dirt nor a stray toy out of place. There were plenty of toys, of course, and board games, coloring books, and paints of all sorts. I'm not just talking about simple finger paints, either. Artist-quality acrylic, oil, and watercolor were stacked neatly in boxes next to several different types of paper on a low shelf near a round yellow table.

"Bri, Okuro, where are you two?" Koko laughed. "Are you playing hide-and-seek with us? Yes?"

Why did Koko sound as if she was actually talking to these children? It wasn't the normal type of talking-to-children voice, where you asked rhetorical questions while you played with them. This sounded as if she was having an actual conversation with them. I did, of course, know that she was an Empathe, as everyone in her family seemed to be one. But she couldn't possibly be speaking literally to them.

Could she?

A squealing laugh pierced the otherwise silence of the nursery and Koko picked up a small girl. The laugh stopped almost immediately afterward as she turned to face our group. The three-year-old girl looked exactly like the child I'd seen in the painting, but that isn't what took my breath away. I knew this child. Somehow, I just knew that I knew her. Koko whispered hushing noises into her ear as she set the girl down.

Bri. Her hair was longer than it should have been, paler by a few shades, and drawn back into two neat pigtails. Her eyes were still that crystal-clear blue. She was small, where I seemed to recall her a few centimeters beneath my eyes in this form. But…this was wrong. I remembered this child as an adult, but I had never met anyone like her before.

This was so confusing.

"Hello," I said softly, extending my hand and kneeling. "My name's Shuichi. What's yours?" My brain screamed at me for lying. Somehow, though, I knew that she did not want me to know anything. I would let her believe that she had succeeded, though at what, I still didn't know.

"I'm Bridget."

A Western name? "It's nice to meet you, Bridget." But I slaughtered the pronunciation, as I had the first time I'd met her. The first time? This _was_ the first time!

"You can call me Bri," she said, giggling nervously. She pointed at a small closet near the two Western style beds. "My brother is over there. I'm going to paint!"

She stalked off toward the other side of the room, her hands clenching and unclenching. I watched her for a moment before turning to face the other child. Hiei held him up to me in a silent motion that read, "You're going to freak out, aren't you?"

I probably would have, had I not remembered the painting in the hall. He was unmistakable in every way. Okuro Wolf was Kuronue. He now had blue eyes and paler hair, but it was still him. He smirked at me as Hiei put him down.

"Let's play 'go fish'," Bri said suddenly, jumping up from the yellow table where she'd barely begun drawing something. She put away the watercolors she'd gotten out hastily, throwing the other boxes askew. They were still stacked up, but in a haphazard way. She reached into the toy chest and produced a deck of colorful cards, beckoning us all to take a seat at the yellow table that couldn't possibly hold the rest of us.

Okuro grabbed my hand and drew me to the table, just as excited as if we were going on another raid together again. I found out later from Koko that he loved to play go fish because it reminded him of fish. I preferred rainbow trout, but he liked halibut. I remembered that from our days as legendary thieves.

Bri's hands moved fluidly over the cards, even though I could tell she was nervous. She didn't move nor act like a three-year-old. She dealt each person seven cards, while most children her age would still be trying to learn how to count to their own age. I knew Kuronue would be able to play. I vowed to get him alone and question him. Why did he wait this long to be reborn? Twenty-six years since his death and he chooses now, with this girl whom I had some idea and yet no idea of her identity.

If there was anything I hated in my long life, it was being confused.

I pushed it all to the back of my mind and played go fish. I was Youko Kurama. I could take things in stride and keep my façade. I could take it.

For now.

…

…

…

Okies, now we're getting somewhere. Hmm…Kurama's getting this major déjà vu thing, but does he really remember Bri? I'm going to explain where the names of the OCs in this story come from and why I chose them. I don't know if you're at all interested in that, but I thought it might be cool if you knew.

Bridget: According to Behind the Name, Bridget comes from the Irish name that translates roughly as "exalted one". In mythology, she was the goddess of fire, poetry, and wisdom, hence why she and Kuronue were reborn as fire kitsune. I sort of chose this name because I absolutely abhorred it almost as much as I did my own (Sarah). It put some distance between the character and myself, therefore making an interesting one who wasn't a thinly disguised "me".

Kokomo: From the Beach Boy's song and from my brother's girlfriend's dog. I have no idea what possessed me to name a girl like her after a Chihuahua. I took the dog's personality and created a more human person for it. Koko originally came from the end of Keiko (which means "respectful child" O.o), but I decided that the connection was too much for the character and found a way to nickname it.

Marion: It's actually a girl's name, derived from Robin Hood's Maid Marion. However, it also has Native American derivations, as well as Roman. It comes from Mars, the god of war. Kansas and Virginia (my two fav. places in the world) have a Marion county. Also named after one of my professors at Hesston College, the Bible Literature teacher, Marion B.

Gun Wa: I wanted it to be vaguely Korean in nature, though I've got no clue what it means at all, and Behind the Name doesn't seem to have the translation. I know that gun is roughly "war" in Japanese. Basically, I was playing around with words one day and this dude's name came! Yes, I'm stupid.

Gunner: Norse mythology, though misspelled. It's "Gunnar", and it typically means "warrior" or "soldier". I liked the name. --()

Gina: Mean's "silvery" in Japanese. I also connected it (somehow in my little head) to Viriginia.

Tsuki: Moon. I actually like this name, so it was hard to make an antagonist with it. ;;

Okuro: It means "little black". I saw it somewhere that currently is slipping my mind…

And to my reviewers:

I love you all! I have some time issues at the moment, so I will be sure and answer your questions next time. (Will someone remind me, I forget easily. --() )


	6. Seventeen Moons

Disclaimer: No own, no sue, pleasant day!

Chapter 6: Seventeen Moons

…Bri…

I couldn't decide whether to be elated or furious. Okuro was being intelligent for once and staying out of my way. Hiei, Kurama, and he had gone outside to play ball. I honestly didn't care if Okuro told Kurama who he really was. Koko kneeled beside me, chewing on her lip. I decided that instead of being elated, furious, or indifferent, I would simply be calm, cool, and collected.

"Kokomo. I made a simple request before I came back."

She bit her lip harshly and nodded quickly.

"Do you remember what it was?"

"T-That we kept Kurama away from you."

"You didn't do that. Did you, Kokomo?"

She shook her head.

I sighed. "I'm not angry. I should be, but I'm not. I know it wasn't your fault. And Keiko is oblivious, so it's not her fault. It's no one's fault but my own for coming back."

Koko glanced at me sharply. "You're not going to do anything, are you?"

"I'm just going to keep my façade up," I said, shrugging. "If Kurama wants to keep coming by to see Kuronue, I'm going to have to grit my teeth and bear it."

And bear that pain over and over again.

The age he was at…it was the same as when I left, almost. He was nearing it. I was three years old. That same look of unrecognizing, it was the same one as when I went to the past because of Tsuki. The same one. I couldn't help but think how much he hadn't changed at all. It hurt. It hurt because I knew that I hadn't had any impact on him whatsoever in the other life. It was him changing me.

Not that I ever wanted him to change, but…

Koko sighed. "So you're just going to pretend like the past didn't happen, Bri?"

"That's right," I said, my tongue a little sharper than I'd intended. "Because it _didn't_ happen, Kokomo."

CRASH!

I jumped up from my seat at the table. It had come from outside. Koko beat me to the window and picked me up when she realized I couldn't see out it. Damn tiny body. I glanced straight down at the boys, who were looking across the street. The baseball lay forgotten on the grass. I couldn't see what had made the sound, nor did I ever find out.

Across the street was a moving van. The house there had been empty _forever_, even in the other time stream. Who could be moving in? Some hot shot, that's for sure. That was a foreign car, although I admit I have no clue what kind it was. It was one of those really expensive sports cars, pink.

For some reason, I felt as if this was a bad, bad omen.

Out of the car jumped a sharply dressed man. Everything about him reminded me of a shark. Pointy, dorsal-like nose, wide, thin mouth, ears pressed firmly against a sharp black widow's peak hairstyle. A small girl, no more than my age, leapt after him. She was the spitting image of her father, sharp black hair falling into slim eyes.

"The Junana family," Koko said. "Dad told me they bought that house, but I didn't think they'd ever actually move in. Junana owns a really rich law firm near southern Hong Kong, China."

"I kind of got the 'really rich' part from his car," I said dryly. Well, as dry as you can get a three-year-old's voice.

"I didn't know he had a daughter. Something must've happened to her mother."

"Might as well go downstairs and meet them, then," I sighed. "I'm going to have to attend elementary and junior high school with her if they stay here. By the looks of it, that's pretty likely."

"I still say you should drop the illusion, Bri, and bring your own self back."

"_That_ would be the illusion," I said. "I'm not that person any more, Koko, you know that as well as I do. I'm a new person."

She muttered under her breath, but I still caught it. Sometimes it helped to have fox hearing. "Yeah, and you got stubborn, too."

"I'm merely protecting myself and you from a lot of heartache."

Koko sighed. "No, you're just…never mind."

I could tell what she was going to say. She was going to say I was just being selfish, and maybe I was, in a way. But at the same time, I knew that any relationship that I might build with Kurama would be purely that of family friend, like I had with Gina and Keiko and Hiei. He would never think of me the same way he had in the other time stream. I was much too young for him. In fact, I laughed inwardly, I had been too young for him in the other time stream, too.

One thousands years of difference made no difference then.

But it was different now.

We were both reborn, in the human world. And I wasn't even old enough to go to school yet. He was heading to college next year! It was a ridiculous idea that I would ever be with Kurama again. With a sigh, I followed Koko down the stairs, out the front door, and onto the grass. The little girl from across the street was already talking to Okuro, Kurama, and Keiko. Hiei was nowhere to be seen, which was to be expected of him. Even around his own mate, he was elusive. Or, at least, I thought so.

"Bri! Bri!" Okuro waved wildly at me. "Come on and meet Yue!"

Yue…Yue was Chinese for moon. I blinked at the blatant reminder of Tsuki, but shook it from my head. I wouldn't let that affect my relationship to this girl. I'd only just met her and not even that, really.

"Hello." Her lip curled upward into a smirk. "You must be Bri. I've heard so much about you from your slightly dimmer-witted brother."

Scratch that. I can let that affect every part of my relationship to her.

"Thank you," I said coolly. "Are you planning on staying long?"

The smirk deepened. "Of course. Daddy says that if I live here, I will get a better education, so I can get into Meikou High."

"My dad teaches at that school," I said. "And so do my aunts, uncle, and several family friends."

"I know," she said. If possible, her smirk deepened. "Isn't that great?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes. Great."

"Yue! We need to unpack! You can play tomorrow!"

"Daddy's calling," I said. "We can play another day."

"We will," she said.

I don't like Yue Junana.

…

…

…

Okay…blatant. Very much blatant. I basically konked you over the head with it, didn't I? Just so's you know, Yue is Chinese for moon, but Junana is Chinese for 17 (although it is used in Japan anyway). The reason I used that number was NOT to point to Android Seventeen, however many people like to point that out. (author grumbles) It's a very personal number for me, because that's how many people I've known who have committed suicide.

So now that we've got that depressing thought out of mind…On to answering reviews. 

From Chapter 4 Reviews:

Peeka-chan: No need to sneak him in, as you can see. :D The real part of the story that you sweet romanticists are looking forward to doesn't pick up until Bri is in high school…

SilverDragon: Of course Kuronue's evil…he's too cute to be anything but a little monster…lol I still want that couch….

Sillylittlenothing: Thank you…you sound like me when I was reviewing Matchbox, and that just makes it all the more special to me. I used all of my money to buy the YYH discs up until the episode where Shura and Yomi fight during Yusuke's "King of Demon World" tourney…

Kuramafan: Laughter is the best medicine and SHOW ME THE FMA PIC!

Princess Kandra: Sorry, that isn't it… Don't worry, you'll see soon enough. I think. Keep guessing, it's amusing to see who gets the answer.

Lucifer: No worries! 

Black Cello: I'm certain I know this review, but it was under a different name earlier…O.O My rents gave me video games if I got "A"s as a kid…Now they want me to get a job just so I can go to school, lol. College. Lovely, eh?

Chapter 5 Reviews:

Kuramafan: Yeah, that was supposed to be Kurama's first clue. I got the idea from my baby bro, who started drawing shortly after I did (at ten), when he was three. At that age, I was reading Edgar Allen Poe. I know, weird.

Princess Kandra: lol, no, I'm going to wait until she's in high school to spring it back into action, but there are a few more stops along the way.

Lucifer: Er…soon as possible? (looking at the date she last updated) Er…well, it's better late than never, eh?

SilverDragon: Nah, she's only mad at herself. Bri can be very hard on herself, as you've seen. Kurama is going to have a lot of this so-called "déjà vu-ness", but I don't describe much more of it after this.

Sillylittlenothing: Kuronue wants Bri's happiness, so I don't think he's going to help or hinder her either way. And you'll just have to see how all this "works out". 


	7. Fatherhood

Chapter 7: Fatherhood

…Koko…

Damn it all. If there was anything I hate more than being sick, it's knowing that I'm sick because of my damn husband. Yes, I got married to Hiei—finally. We waited about a year after I graduated from high school and got done with my freshman year of college to do that. It was a nice wedding, I guess. Bri made an adorable flower girl and Okuro brought in the rings. Keiko was my maid of honor.

Blah, blah, blah, but it's all over and you missed it. Tough luck for you, I guess. Damn it. I hate being sick. Snowball was going to be in for it if I ever got out of this damn bed. I sat up and grabbed the metal frame, hoping that I could at least get to the bathroom before anything happened. The sickness seemed to subside soon after I got there, to my frustration. I took it out on the cupboard.

In case you're wondering, yes, good people, I am pregnant with Hiei's baby. Yeah. It's a beautiful thing, blah, blah, blah, and I'm damn tired of it. I was going to have a long pictorial notebook full of sketches later, though. Bri was going to draw me in all the lovely stages of pregnancy. She and Okuro were seven now.

I guess she kind of got used to having Kurama around again, because he and the other Spirit Detectives were always over here or there. Kurama had become a family friend. He was always around and I think Bri had come to count on him for things. Like when Yue did something at school.

That little bitch sure knew how to make my little cousin angry. Like their first day of school. Yue got glue in Bri's hair during some project, and Bri was bald for the first few weeks of school. Kurama had cut off two inches of his own hair and fashioned a wig for her. It was kind of sweet. Bri still had a few locks of his hair in a little scrapbook. She had decided that the one thing she would do with her new life was scrapbook everything and detail it all in a journal. Even the boring stuff.

I can see where she was going with it, but I tell you, I'd never have the patience to do it to the extent she does. Her brother, Okuro, managed somehow to let Kurama know who he was. The twins and Kurama were always hanging out, doing something. Even though Kurama was now getting ready to graduate from college with a degree in math teaching. My uncle Marion was extremely pleased to be getting him at Meikou High next year. I think we all were.

And even though somehow King Yama and Koenma had come to some kind of pact, Spirit World was still watching Yusuke. I still hadn't been part of the whole "Sensui" shit bit, but I don't think I would want to have been anyway. That's why I'm pregnant, or at least, I think that's why I am. Snowball had left for Makai eight months ago. He had promised me he would return in time for our baby's birth.

He better damn well hope he is.

So, imagine my surprise when he came into my bathroom.

"What are you doing here, I thought you were training at Lord Mukuro's castle," I said, crossing my arms over my slowly-beginning-to-bulge stomach. He smiled faintly, the smile I was used to meaning, "Yeah, glad to see you, too, _Keiko_."

"Hn. What did your doctor have to say?"

"Don't you grunt at me, _Snowball_. I want to know why you haven't been ba—"

He smothered my question with a kiss, an odd sparkle in his Christmas red eyes. I wasn't about to be dodged that way again. He'd done the same damn thing three times since I first "met" him again in this time stream. The first time I met him, when he came and told me he was going to Makai, and now. I wasn't going to fall for it this time. I broke away from him and glared him straight in the eyes. Well, I couldn't do the Jagan because it was covered with that bandana, but you know what I meant.

"What happened, Hiei?" I demanded.

Wordlessly, he removed two thick white cords from around his neck. One, I recognized. Yukina had given it to him to help him in his search for her brother, namely, Hiei himself. But the other…it was almost identical, and yet, I knew what it was.

"It's your teardrop," I murmured. "The one from your mother. How did you…?"

"Mukuro had it, as a gift from another land," Hiei said, his eyes falling to the ground. I had never seen him so openly deny his feelings. Sure, he denied them all the time. But instead of the open display, he would merely grunt or glare or something like that, which is the way he acted all the time anyway. So no one really figured out when he was denying feelings or when he was just being stupid again.

I smiled at him and lifted his chin up so he could look at me. "Then luck was with you."

"No," he shook his head. "You were."

I blinked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hn."

I rolled my eyes. "And what about what Mukuro wanted? What's it all about?"

"The war that will break out soon over Raizen's imminent death," Hiei answered. He sat back against the wall of the bathroom. "She's made me her second-in-command."

"Second…" I murmured. "But…what about us? What about our son?"

"I will not abandon you," Hiei said, his voice gruffly fierce. "It is your choice. Once the war is over, we will make that decision. I will stay here with you or…"

"Or we'll live in the Makai," I said. I guess it wasn't too bad of a plan. It wasn't as if we couldn't support ourselves on either side. "What about Kurama?"

"What about him?"

"Will he go to the Makai? I know he's with Yomi and he's training those six fighters and all…but still. He has his family here. His mother, stepfather, and stepbrother. He's almost like a second father to Bri and Okuro."

"He will stay here."

Hiei glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. The only reason I caught it is because I'm used to him doing these things without really moving. I have to watch him closely to see anything. I guess what's really weird is that Hiei can go to the Makai without me now. It was something about the "mating process" that Kurama explained to me that really didn't sink in very well. I'd have to ask him about it later, if I remembered.

Hiei ghosted one hand over my arm. "She still loves him."

"Yeah, she does. I think he recognizes her, knows something, at least."

"He knows something is wrong."

"We all know on some level. We should tell Kurama about it. He shouldn't be so left in the dark."

"No."

"Why?"

"Bri."

"Oh."

I sighed and relaxed into a gentle hug from my mate.

…

…Bri…

_Okuro, cut it out. _I rolled my eyes as he, once again, pulled on Kita's ponytail. He was so stealthy about it that no one, not even Kita herself, ever caught him. It was a strange gift, I guess, but the ex-bat-boy was good at it. Granted, once he was old enough, he wanted to go back to the Makai, so he technically didn't need human school. However, mother insisted upon it.

It was strange, having a mom like Ichigo. She was really my mom by birth and she cared about me. She cared about both of us. Okuro and I had become fiercely protective of her since we, already at age seven, were strong enough to take _her_ down if we wanted to. Our mother just simply wasn't a fighter.

But Okuro and I were. We trained in secret, using the skills that Okuro remembered from Youko's past and what I remembered of my training with Kurama. Not even Koko or Hiei knew. Okuro had taught me the one thing that Kurama never got around to: suppressing energy. We got some kind of repressed gene or something like that (so it's been a while since I've been to Uncle Gun Wa's house!) and got landed with a lot of potential energy. Kuronue was already back up to the energy level he'd had at his death, which was near B level. I was a lot weaker, somewhere around middle D, but with better training I could probably match him.

I mean, yeah, I wasn't much of a fighter, either. But I could still kick some demon butt when I wanted to. Kurama would be proud, if he was around when we were training. Don't look at me like that, Kurama's a family friend now, nothing more. I won't ever have anything to do with him romantically again. I'm only seven!

The bell rang for school to be out and Okuro and I ran out the door with all the other second-graders. You have no idea how belittling it is to be in a school where everyone thinks you're so smart, even though you're not really. Well, not for your _real_ age, anyway. I guess I can see how Kurama felt, growing up as a human after being a thousand-year-old fox demon.

"Hey, Brat Face!" I stopped short and glared over my shoulder at our across-the-street neighbor. Yue was just as sharp as she'd been the day she moved in across the street four years ago. She had been the bane of my existence since then.

"What do you want, Junana?" I asked, scowling at her. Okuro crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her over my shoulder. Even though we were twins, he was still growing much more quickly than me.

"I want to know what you think of cats," she said, smiling. I hate her smile. What was she up to this time? "Interesting creatures, ne?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" I said, shifting the weight of my satchel to the other hand. "I like 'em, sure. Why do you want to know?"

"No reason," she said, chuckling softly as she passed by. A thin-fingered hand reached up and patted me on the head. Okuro and I glared, matching, as she passed and climbed fluidly into her father's new, also expensive car. I heard a soft giggle and turned to glare at Chihiro. Okuro groaned.

"Does that idiot girl have a thing against your hair or something?" he grumbled, taking my hand in his. "This is the second time!"

I groaned softly, letting my hand go up to my hair. When I withdrew—painfully—I saw the reason why. Gum. Blue bubblegum in my hair. I sighed and let Okuro lead me home once again, where he went to work with the scissors. I sighed and studied my hair carefully. It looked fine, a little patchy, but nothing that wouldn't fix up once it grew out again. I needed a haircut anyway.

We can't kill a human, Kuronue. You know that.

_Yeah. But if she—_

_Forget it._ I sighed and stared out the window of our former nursery. It had changed a little since then, as Dad had set up two separate bedrooms using rice paper doors and left the little space full of bookshelves and paints and such open. Okuro sighed and set a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Don't let her get to you. She's only a stupid human child."

"You forget what we appear to be?" I asked, allowing a smirk to cross my lips.

"No," he smiled. Suddenly, I smelled something familiar.

"Kurama's coming."

"He didn't say he was coming over today," Okuro said, glancing at the stairs. One of his slightly-pointier-than-normal ears twitched ever so slightly. There were several traits about my little brother that had never left him. One of those was his inability to wake up unless you did something special to him. Since he didn't have wings anymore, it was pulling his ear now.

Sure as my nose had told me, Kurama appeared at the top of the stairs a minute later. He hadn't changed much. He looked almost exactly the same, red hair the color of rose petals and soft as suede. Eyes the color of acidic green. I swear he could melt anyone with that gaze of his. It could pierce steel and ice. But I would never allow them to melt me again.

"Bri, Kuronue, I…" His voice trailed off as he stared at me. "Bri, what happened?"

"Junana," I shrugged. "What is it?"

_Do you smell that? _Kuronue fired at me.

What? 

_Do you smell it?_

_Salt…_

Kurama sighed and offered both of his hands to us. "Come with me. Your father is…"

He didn't need to finish his sentence, but I knew.

Marion Wolf was hurt.

…

…Kurama…

I still couldn't believe it. No one could. Ichigo rang both her hands, compulsively hugging Kuronue and Bri, Koko, Gina. She finally broke down and sobbed into Gun Wa's shoulder. The stench of the hospital was in my nose, along with the scent of salts and misery. Keiko and Kuwabara raced into the waiting room, panting. Keiko glanced up at Koko, who shook her head.

Wordlessly, Keiko walked to my old partner Kuronue and hugged him tightly to her. He wasn't crying, I knew he wouldn't. All the same, he had the numb look in his now-blue eyes. It was the same look that I knew I'd had when my own father had passed away. I was much younger then and I shouldn't have cared so much, or that's what I had continued to tell myself.

Even then, Shiori was changing me.

Marion had changed Kuronue in the same way that Tousan Minamino had. I stared at Bri, the only one who was still staring at the hospital room. She didn't understand, I'm sure. She was really seven years old, unlike Kuronue. No one walked up to her. I waited for someone, anyone to hug her, hold her. The little seven-year-old girl whom I still felt I knew took a few timid steps toward the hospital room where her father lay.

No one tried to stop her.

I didn't have the heart to try, either.

She reached for the frame of the door, groping, not really seeing. Her slightly-pudgy hand grasped it tightly, her hand turning dove white. Her face was an ashen gray and she looked for a moment older, wiser. Like Genkai, like myself. Unlike her mother, she shed no tears, only stood and stared at the white-covered body of her father. I couldn't help but watch her as she let go of the frame and walked to her father's bedside.

Bridget Wolf uncovered Marion's face. I couldn't see hers, but I knew that her face was deathly white. Marion had been jumped on the bullet train on his way home, pulled into an alley. A police officer discovered him and his assailant, but the latter escaped.

Marion's face was marred, bruised. Blood dribbled from a large cut on his head, which wouldn't have looked so bad if he'd had hair to cover it. But the gaping hole there was plain for all the world, and yet at the same time, only for his daughter to see.

Bri glanced over her shoulder and stared straight into my eyes. They held no tears, no fear, no anger. Just a blank, empty soul. I don't know how or when I did it, but suddenly I was by her side, covering Marion's bloodied face with the crisp white sheet again. She hugged my waist, her strength just enough to cut off my circulation.

I didn't care. I knelt at her side.

"He's gone, Bri," I said quietly. She buried her face into my shoulder and I ran my hands down her back, comforting her. "I'm sorry."

She sobbed in response.

I picked her tiny body up and cradled her as only one could to comfort a small child. Somehow, though, I knew that Bri was not entirely a child. She had grown up far too quickly. I knew that Bri had no friends at school, nor did she seem to want them. She was content with her brother, her family, and her close family friends that may as well have been family. I was one of those friends.

And at the moment, I was all she had.

Koko and Gina attempted to take the now-asleep girl from me, but I held her closer in answer to their own silent pleas. Koko and Keiko held one of Kuronue's hands, and together we led Gun Wa and Ichigo out of the hospital. I truly hoped that Raizen would hold out. I needed to be here, for Bri and for this family.

Yomi was wrong.

My place was here.

…

…

…

Er…Yes, I did kill Marion Wolf again…Necessary! O.O Don't yell at me! Okay, fine, yell at me. I really am sorry for the wait, ya'll. See you soon with the next chapter!


	8. First Battle

Disclaimer: Do you guys even _ready this!_ I can say whatever the heck I want and you guys would never react to it, would you? I give cyber chocolates to whoever actually remembers this. I don't own Yu Yu, but I do own Koko and Bri and Gina and a buncha others…I also own the bit of Hershey's kisses in my pocket.

Chapter 8: First Battle

…Bri…

It had been a month since my father passed away. Kuronue stared at me from across our shared desk/table, silent. Neither of us had really gotten over the shock yet. I think I'd always thought my father to be invincible now that I was here with him. I guess I'd thought wrong. Kuronue sighed.

"We can't do much else but comfort mother," he said quietly. Our mother hadn't done much more but lay in bed since the funeral. She'd lost the will to live, except for us. We were the only thing keeping her alive, Kuronue and I.

"Koenma wants to see us," he said again after I didn't reply. "Says that he has a job for us." I glanced up at him, not bothering to actually form the words on my lips.

What does mighty toddlerness want? 

"We have to go to Spirit World to answer that," he shrugged. "Botan is here to bring us there, if you want to go. I'll do it alone if you're too lazy."

I scowled at him. _Low blow._

"Only for you, sis," he teased.

I followed my brother out the window, where, sure enough, sprightly Botan was waiting for us. She, unlike the majority of the others, was one of few who knew who we were. Like Koko, she was of the opinion that I should just allow myself to go back to who I was before I was reborn. She, unlike Koko, was smart enough to keep her mouth shut about it, rather than constantly nagging at me.

Her nagging was almost as bad as letting Kurama hold me again. I was breaking my promise again, enjoying his embraces. Enjoying the comfort that he brought. The way his very presence soothed me, made the fact that my father was dead less stinging. How he made everything hurt less.

"You're missing a patch of your hair," Botan said. "Did that girl get to you again?"

I admit, Yue Junana was always doing something to me. If it wasn't splashing paint on my front, kicking mud on my shoes, dirt in my eyes, it was something else. This was the second time she'd managed to get something in my hair, although the first had been the worst. I smiled at the memory and at Botan.

"She did, but it's all right."

It's all right, because Kurama would do something to make me feel better again. He always did. The first time she got gum in my hair, I had ended up near bald. Kurama had cut his _own hair_ and made me a wig for the first few weeks of school. I still had a few locks of that wig in my journal for the memory. His hair had grown back and grown a bit longer since then.

Botan's oar-driving skills are always being bashed by other people, but I myself find the rides she gives to be just that: rides. Like a roller coaster. Of course, I don't like roller coasters that often, so I don't really like getting on her oar. I will skip ahead, because this time had been rather embarrassing, involving several—shutting up.

I sat rather dizzily on the edge of Koenma's desk, glaring down at him from my higher perch. Even though he was still by far older than me, he looked much smaller and about five years younger than me. I still had some amount of intimidation and I used it to my appearance's seven-year-old chubby advantage.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I sort of only meant Kuronue, but since you are here, I guess you can help, too," Koenma said, pointing to the screen before his desk. "Near the Wolf residences are several rock demons who appear to be planning an invasion of the city. This job is a lot simpler than most of Yusuke's and I think you two can handle them."

"You want _us_ to be spirit detectives?" I arched one eyebrow at him, a trait I'd picked up from Kurama.

"Well, not exactly," Koenma said. "I just don't want to bother the others with the more trivial tasks, and…"

_Just keeps digging his holes even deeper, isn't he, sis? _Kuronue asked.

"Oh, yes, he is," I said, not even bothering to keep the conversation in our minds. "Fine. We'll take care of your little pest problem. And _please_ hesitate to call again."

On the edge of Tokyo, only about half a mile from Nemoi District, we stood in a field with the only instructions being to "dismantle" the rock demons. I was beginning to regret opening my big mouth. Honestly, I wasn't a fighter, hadn't trained very long, and I had no clue what rock demons looked like.

"Just follow my lead," Kuronue said. He flashed his now-infamous fox-grin at me. "It's not that hard to fight. It's just hard to fight with style."

"If you say so. What do these things look like anyway?"

RUMBLE… 

Two large stacks of stone rose out of the field, and for some reason, I think they were mad at us.

"Like that," Kuronue said calmly.

A rock fell exactly in the spot he'd been a moment before, where now he was in front of me.

"Oh," I said, dodging yet another falling stone. "How are we supposed to beat them?"

"Don't know." He jumped atop one of the stones. The stack moved from left to right, trying to find him with eyes that I couldn't see on it. I did the same to the other, grabbing hold of the topmost stone.

What do we do now!   
I don't know! 

_You're the demon here!_

_You're a half demon!_

_Only in this lifetime! _I wrapped both arms around my rock as it started trying to buck me off.

"Hey, look, Buck!" said a low, rumbly voice that definitely did not belong to the slightly squeaky-quality voices of myself or Kuronue. "This one's missing a patch o' hair. Maybe she's an old maid!"

"Nah, she's just a lil runt," rumbled back "Buck", who I supposed was the one I sat on. It was hard to tell the direction those voices were coming from. But this one's rocks shook when it "spoke".

Bri, fire it! Use your fox fire! 

"Fire _what_!" I shouted aloud back as Buck bucked me around on the stone. "It's nothing but _rock!_"

The red stone, fire the red stone! The one right underneath you! 

I glanced down, leaning over my stone to glare at the red stone just beneath my eyes. So _there's _where his face is. Ugh. He looked worse than George the ogre on a good day.

"Hello, human," said Buck.

"Hello, Bucky," I said in my own sweet little seven-year-old voice. I reached out with what little power I had, scrubbing together about three thousand or so molecules just in front of his face to make the infamous fox fire. Not a nanosecond after the blaze began, the stones began to fall.

Taking me with them.

"Bri!" Kuronue shouted. I don't know exactly what happened, but suddenly the rock I was on stopped in midair. I was too scared to even open my eyes. When at last I chanced it, I glanced down over the edge of the stone again. Kuronue stood on the ground, staring up at me with that stupid smirk on his face.

"Saved by the bell flowers," he said, grinning.

I glanced down underneath the rock again, where I'd seen the red stone with Buck's face only a few moments ago. Now all I saw was the smooth blue expanse of an enormous flower, holding me suspended atop the rock I'd never actually let go of. The flower slowly shrank. I pushed the stone off to the side so that it wouldn't hurt the plant that had saved my life. I was practically standing inside of a blue cherry picker of a plant as it slowly lowered me to the ground.

"Did you do that?" I asked.

"Nope. You?"

"I didn't use any of my powers…I'm positive I didn't…" I said, blinking at him. I sniffed at the wind, but whoever had saved me was smart. They had remained facing the wind so that I wouldn't catch the scent until it was unrecognizable.

"Well, we won," I shrugged, glancing at the two piles of stone. "Did we actually…kill them?"

"Rock demons can't be 'killed'," Kuronue said. "They're like parasites. They leech off the solar energy that rocks collect over a few years, and once you take out the main stone, they topple and disperse. Don't worry, they'll be back in about…a hundred years or so."

I shoved him over one of the rocks.

…

…

…

Okay, I actually _added_ this chapter in after a while. I wanted to have an example of Bri actually _fighting_, since I've sort of made the fact that she does fight important. She's kinda incompetent (Bri: Hey!) at it, though, sort of like Yusuke, only even more so cause she doesn't have street fighting as a background.

Who is the mystery person who saved Bri's life and how on _Earth_ did he know where she was, who she was, and what she was doing? Another important element. Hmm. And can _anyone_ actually handle Botan's flying or Koenma's stupidity?

Question for my reviewers: When do ya'll get off school? I know some get out tomorrow and there are others who have summer school. Where do you stand? I'm kind of intrigued to find out who lives where and what a little of their lives are like. I know some people on Yahoo. If you have it, please, IM me! It's the same as my email.

Kuramafan: (From cha 6) Of course. Tsuki is always making life hellish. (Chapter 7) Yup, I'm a survivor. Lol, I hope that never happens again. I think Bri should thank me for being so avid about saving things.

Lucifer: (Chapter 6) Calm down, cakes, they'll get back together. (Chapter 7) I think the past repeats itself in an endless dance of deaths and births, both literally and figuratively.

Sillylittlenothing: (Chapter 6) Yup, Tsuki is back. Don't cry just yet, though. Sometimes, growing up with someone can make you rethink them entirely. (Chapter 7) It was kinda my hope that this chapter would be a tearjerker…at least I succeeded in that. Sorry, though, it had to happen.

Princess Kandra: Dear, you have just won however much yen you bet (stupid system takes out multiples) from Kurama! Yes, my dear, Yue is Tsuki. As I've said before, though, growing up with someone can make you rethink them. Oo I'm addictive, eh? Let's hope that's what the publishers say about Kitsune Maybe. I'm going for the original world now.

SilverDragon: I think it's amusing for Hiei, too. I'm very Kurama-like, in that I find things endlessly amusing and yet I can't seem to laugh out loud. Yup, Yue is Tsuki. We are never going to be rid of her, are we?

SallyWalker: Finally, some criticism. (Eep! No yelling! Just calm crit! Meow.) I actually don't try very hard with fan fiction. I read it through and make sure there are no mistakes, sometimes I add stuff. But it's my original stuff that I focus on the most. Sorry, but it won't be up on fiction press. Publishers frown at that sort of thing. About Hiei, though…I kinda believe that people change when they're with the people they love. My brother used to be very, very Hiei-ish: dark, brooding, I seriously thought he was going to literally murder me a few times), and then when he and his girlfriend started dating, he's changing. Still brooding, still dark, but he's just a little more light. I don't think he's going to kill me anymore.

Peeka-chan: Well, as I know who Yue/Tsuki really becomes, I don't think I'm going to kill her. And you'll just have to wait and see what I mean by that.

Saori: You're not bad…really…And you're not demented. Everything will click into place soon enough. You'll see. I'm the evil bad one for not informing everyone right away that it was up.


	9. Meikou High

Disclaimer: Thanks for not suing, it's been a blast borrowing the Yu Yu gang.

Chapter 9: Meikou High

…Bri…

I took quite possibly the deepest breath I'd ever taken in my fifteen long years as Bridget Kokomo Wolf, half-fox Empathe twin of Okuro "Kuronue" Marion Wolf. I stared up at Meikou High School, no longer just the daughter of the former math teacher and good friend to the new (well, sorta new), not just related to half the teachers. I was now a freshman student of Meikou High School once again.

It was here that this entire thing really started. I tugged at the short red skirt of the uniform, trying to cover my legs. Kuronue sidled up to me, his hair just slightly longer than mine. He wore the red men's uniform well, almost a patriotic visage for our good country. His skin was pasty white, while mine was slightly darker. I stared at my fingers, whiter than his skin around the handle of my suitcase bag.

"Don't worry about it," Kuronue said. "It's not like anything bad's going to happen just by going to a school." _We learned that in preschool, remember?_ He added in our minds. I grinned up at him.

"You're right, as always."

"I _am_ older by four minutes."

I scowled. He _always _brought that up, ever since he found out how much it'd bugged me that I hadn't been quicker. But of course, I couldn't say that aloud. I fired my retaliation back in our minds.

It's not like I had a choice, bat boy.

_I'm not a "bat boy" anymore, little sister._

I scowled deeper and led the way through the double doors as my answer. Who should be my first class and homeroom teacher but the one and only Gun Wa Wolf? I smiled at my uncle and threw an arm over his shoulders.

"Hey, _Toguro-sensei_," I said playfully. "Are you going to pick on me again?"

"Be glad no one else is here yet, Bri," he chuckled darkly. "And no, I have no plans on reenacting the first time you passed through this school. Don't expect me to go easy on you."

"Of course not," I grinned. "After listening to you blab for fifteen years about this class, do you think I'd not already know what you're going to say anyway?"

"Do not set a bad example for your classmates."

I grinned teasingly but didn't answer. I wasn't planning on making a "bad example", but it was nice to know that I could make him stew. I sat back in my seat—the same one as before. Second from the front, right by the window. A cherry tree just outside, with a sparrow's nest about three feet from me. Before, Kurama had sat in the seat beside me, but this wasn't the same as before. Keiko wouldn't sit in front of me.

But guess who did.

I don't even want to say it. But I guess I have to. Only a few seconds before class was to begin, Yue Junana slid into the front seat. Whether deliberately or definitely deliberately, her satchel slammed into my knee. I glared at her, only to just sit back and take it all. It would not be a good idea to get in a rotten mood on my first day back at Meikou High School.

Gun Wa sighed and began class in the same way I'd always heard he did.

"Welcome to Biology, will you please take your pens and jab them directly into your aorta so we can begin human dissection?"

At the far back of the room, one kid piped up.

"What's a aorta?"

Another kid threw a pen at him. "Stupid, he didn't mean it for real!"

A smaller girl next to Yue asked softly: "Did you, Gun Wa-Sensei?"

"No, of course not," Gun Wa laughed. "We'll be studying microscopic organisms first before moving on into…"

I stopped listening after a while. I love my uncle, I really do, but sometimes he just needs to learn when to shut up. I started paying a bit more attention when he started the actual lesson, of course. If you don't remember, I kind of had trouble with this particular subject in the last life, because "Toguro-sensei" had been a bit on the fast side. While I was still learning Japanese, too…

Uncle Gun Wa left when the bell rang that familiar, tolling Beethoven. Ten minutes later, in walked Aunt Gunner. She began the English class the same way, with the poem _Tyger, Tyger_. And then, the class right before lunch, in walked the last person I wanted to see at Meikou High again.

"Good morning, class," he said, setting his things on the front desk. "My name is Minamino-sensei, and I will be teaching you Algebra I this year. That is what it says on your schedules and mine, correct?" His acid danced over them.

Why the hell hadn't he married yet?

He was thirty!

I sighed and began pulling out a new notebook for this class. Unlike Matsu (shudder), and unlike the second math teacher whose name I forgot long ago, he began class with a quiz. "Just to see how much you know," he explained.

Right. I think he just wanted to see the scowl on my face. He _knew_ how much I hated quizzes, especially the ones that had no other purpose than to test me. Wait, wasn't that what all quizzes were for anyway? I sighed and sat back in my seat, putting away the paper and stuff.

Kurama made his way around the room, placing the quizzes directly on people's desks. As he passed by on the other row, I saw why. Each one of them was completely different from the last. I nearly groaned when he placed a particularly difficult one of Kuronue's desk.

_Well, this might be a challenge after all. _Kuronue fired at me, a playful smirk crossing his face.

_Yeah, and _I'll_ get one of the "easy" tests like everyone else. _

_You could always just tell him that you're a reborn, too. He doesn't have to know that you and he knew each other…_

_No, Kuronue. I like the façade I have now._

_That's exactly what it is, Bri. A façade. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an old friend to contend with…_

I sighed and waited for Kurama's hand to touch my desk with the paper. I felt his presence behind me and waited. When he didn't do anything, I glanced over my shoulder at him. He held the paper in his hand. I reached up gently and took it from him. His acid eyes lingered on mine for a moment before he placed the last paper on Yue's desk in front of me.

"Begin," he said.

As I suspected, it was one of the easy quizzes. I may not like math, but repeating the same subject three times typically has this effect where you tend to understand it. I heard somewhere that if you repeated something twenty-seven times, you remember it for a lifetime. I think that was the actual purpose of school, to repeat the same things twelve times over so that you'll remember it for half a lifetime.

Only I'm repeating it for twenty-four times instead. I think Koenma did this to me on purpose. I think he also positioned Kuronue and I at the northern edge of Tokyo on purpose as well, despite the fact that we already knew Nemoi District. Over the years, there had been several demons that came through our little town. It had gotten so bad that now, we were in contact with Koenma through a detective compact. We weren't really "spirit detectives", just a couple of helpers. Yusuke, despite King Yama's wishes, was still the official Spirit Detective.

Yusuke was also King of Demon world. He'd been "re-elected" a couple of times over since I was seven. I think there was another election coming up this summer. I had very little doubt that he would, once again, be re-elected as King.

I handed in my quiz and sat back to wait for the class bell to ring. When it did, everyone immediately jumped up and raced to the common area on the second floor. Everyone except Kuronue and I. Kurama was still packing up his things at the head of the classroom as I opened my obento.

"How is your mother?" Kurama asked.

His eyes were cast down as I glanced up. A bit unlike him to not look in my eyes when he's talking to me. Ever since my father passed away, he's been my leaning arm, the one I could always talk to. Every time Yue did something to upset me, it was him I could come to. I loved Kuronue dearly, but he could never be serious enough sometimes.

"She's fine," I said. "Her new job is great, or so she said."

"Mother is working in an attorney's place as a secretary," Kuronue said, rolling the eyes that made him look like our father and yet nothing like him. "How great can it be?"

"She's just keeping a brave face," I shrugged.

"I'm glad that she has the strength to do that," Kurama said gently.

"Yeah." I sighed and glanced at the sparrow on the cherry tree just outside the window. I felt his presence long before I felt the comforting hand on my shoulder.

"That sparrow has been there every fall since I was a freshman here," Kurama said, smiling at me. "Gun Wa said that she brings good luck."

"I know, he's always going on about the sparrow outside room A-2," I said. "Right, Kuronue?"

"Yeah, he's got a thing for birds," Kuronue shrugged. "How are Hiei and Koko?"

"Hey, what about Jun?" I slapped my brother's shoulder playfully.

"They're all doing fine," Kurama chuckled. "As are Yusuke, Yume, and Keiko. I must say, Yukina and Kuwabara are in a small fix, however."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Yukina is expecting."

"What?" I laughed. "You're kidding me, I didn't think the lug would ever actually do it with her."

Kurama gave an amused noise. "Indeed. You think about these things often, Bri?"

"No!" I blushed and held back a punch. "I do not, you pervert!"

"Watch who it is you're calling a pervert, especially with whom you call a brother standing beside you," Kurama said, walking back to his desk. My stupid hormones decided that I would not let my eyes stop watching his lithe form until he turned back to me with those acid eyes. "He is far worse than I."

I snorted in laughter as Kuronue mocked an indignant growl. He stalked out of the room.

"Don't let those girls get the best of you, bat boy!" I called after him. He merely grunted and let the door close softly behind him. I sighed, smiling still. "He hasn't changed much since you knew him, has he?"

"A great deal and yet not at all," Kurama smiled. He sat behind the desk at the front of the room. "I did not once believe that I would be teaching math to you."

I snorted, most unladylike. "Did you think I wasn't going to go to high school or something?"

"I thought something with more prestige was in order."

My back stiffened before I laughed it off, answering with a different answer Keiko had once to the same sentence. He'd all but quoted me. "With everyone else having gone here before me, did you think I even had a choice, fox boy?"

"I think you did, Bridget."

"You're wrong."

"I'm right."

"Don't start this again."

"I'm right about that answer."

I smirked over my shoulder. "I had a choice, yes. It just so happens that I liked this particular choice."

He sighed. "What class do you have next?"

"What else?" I asked with a smirk. "Art with Gina."

"You act as if that were obvious."

"Isn't it?"

"You are far more advanced in that subject than Gina could ever teach you."

I shrugged.

"How is it that a three-year-old halfling had the same artistic prowess as the young Vincent Van Gogh?" Kurama asked. The quizzes were in front of him, along with a red Bic pen.

"How is it that a three-year-old human had the same thieving prowess of a certain infamous Makai thief?" I shot back.

He glanced up at me, but I was already looking away.

We've had this conversation many times over. I never gave him a straight answer and neither did he give me one. It was like an unspoken law between us, that no matter how many questions we asked, we would always be shrouded in mystery to the other. I sort of cheated, though.

I already knew the answers to my questions.

He just didn't know mine.

And I planned on keeping it that way.

…

…

…

Ha ha ha. I'm laughing at most, if not all, of you. Well, really, I'm not, but I just wanted to let ya'll know that you've been deliberately tricked. All but _one_ of you guessed that Bri's mystery bluebell savior was Kurama. It's like a magic trick, but I'm going to reveal half the trick here right now. It's _not_ Kurama! Major hint: Bluebells sometimes act as a sort of Mountain Dew to a certain species of animal. The bluebells originated from my warped imagination, a full moon the night I was writing this, and a certain Queen of the Nile purring in my ear…

Now, here's how this is possible.

I did a bunch of research on kitsune, and most of it definitely applies to Kurama. However, there are some things that are true of most kitsune, if not all, so I've decided to keep that true for Bri and Kuronue. I will list those things, as they will become important as we go along.

Kitsune are all capable of illusion. They also are able to manipulate the under-life around them (ie, plants, smaller rodents, etc.), which to some means that kitsune are vampiric in nature. Also, foxes gain tails in one of two ways: age and power. They gain tails every one hundred years, or if they gain enough power. Kurama, in fact, _should_ have somewhere around nine or ten tails.

Kitsune only turn "silver" on their one thousandth birthday. Their "powers" vary from fox to fox but tend to "match" the powers they have in some way. Since Bri and Kuronue are fire foxes, they have the fox fire (like Shippou from Inu Yasha). However, they were born to a copper kitsune (I made this up), Ichigo. According to my theory, copper foxes typically have a very small store of energy.

However, to those with some genetic biology background, one of Ichigo's ancestors was a nine-tail. Those genes passed through Ichigo and landed in Kuronue and Bri (Kuronue more than Bri).

I've made some other fill-in-the-blank (hey, only so much you can get off foxtrot) additions, but you'll be finding that out later. I won't spoil the surprise.

And to my reviewers…

Peeka-Chan: O.O You actually _trust_ me? The world's gonna end! The apocalypse is approaching! Not really, but….Eheh, I guess if you've trusted me thus far…As you can see, I have very low self esteem and I am a baka major. I think you're one of few who suggested it might not have been Kurama…

SilverDragon: Yup, it's _too_ obvious. Hmm. I love using novel reverse strategies, they're so much fun. Watching this hand while another does the work. It's also a magic concept. See my reasoning for plants above. Even Bri and Kuronue will be able to wield plants (tho I think Bri will prefer fire).

Lucifer: You're the _only _reviewer at this point in time who didn't suggest that Kurama was behind the bluebells! Hersheys kisses for ya! Kuronue's gonna have to do more than train the poor chica…Is three days soon enough? I'm so bad at updating during the summer…Oh, well, at least I'm not those authors that make ya wait a month…a year…two years….eternity…

Kuramafan: I was actually debating whether or not to keep her helpless…And you hit my point right on the button. I tricked you! Now I'm just going to leave you wondering who the mystery bluebell person is…

Sillylittlenothing: Nope, not Kurama. I was leading you in that direction, though. I like keeping my stories true to life, and true to what I think would really happen. People change, I'll just leave it at that.

Princess Kandra: (crying) Sorry, cakes, you're just gonna have to give Kurama back his yen now. It wasn't him. Of course, wouldn't he know? Oo You ran outta luck and Kurama won. Gomen. 


	10. Letter to the Moon

Disclaimer: Borrowing characters for pleasure has always been a pleasure of mine. Is that bad? Don't sue, because I definitely do not own the Yu Yu Hakusho characters.

Chapter 10: Letter from the Moon

…Kurama…

It had been many years since Koenma had called us all together, so I knew that something was wrong. Yusuke leaned against one wall, his mate Keiko and his six-year-old daughter Yume at his side. Kuwabara and Yukina, pregnant but not yet showing, were calmly waiting for my arrival. Hiei, Koko, and their son Jun were waiting next to Yusuke. The children were quick to nearly bowl me over with hugs, even Jun. I guess after so many years of looking after Bri and Kuronue, children took a liking to me.

"Well, look at you, Mr. Godfather," Yusuke grinned. "How's Human world holding up without us?"

"It has been peaceful for several years now," I admitted. "I'm a little rusty."

"Don't worry about that," Koenma said, worrying over some paperwork in his teenage human form. "You will have a year to get back into the groove of things as soon as the others arrive."

I blinked slightly. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, myself. I had assumed that our team was already gathered, but apparently I was wrong. Yume and Jun pulled me to the floor, both children climbing into my lap. Godfather, indeed. Jun fell asleep shortly after the two had grown comfortable.

"Fox, you've gotten older," Hiei said. I glanced down at my human body. It was indeed not quite as spry nor as wiry as it once had been. In fact, it was taking on a few of the same attributes that my Youko body had. My chin had tapered over the years and my eyes had grown more slim (both observations I'd made in the mirror). The muscles that my younger body had hidden better were starting to show, even through my conservative teacher's clothing.

"I will leave the human existence only when my mother has died," I said quietly. "Not until then."

"Well, it's good to know that we won't be losing our math teacher any time soon," said a voice I definitely had not been expecting. "Hey, guys, didn't think you'd be seeing us?"

"Bri!" Yusuke yelled, a grin on his face. "Kuronue, jeez, when did you guys get here?"

"About the time Koenma was starting in on what we're doing. Without us, I might add," Kuronue said, stepping aside to allow Botan into the room. "We've just been going through the stock exchange out there."

"It's been a while since you needed our help, Koenma," Bri said. _Their_ help? "What's up that you've got us all together like this?"

"I'm afraid I must ask first," I said quietly, shifting Jun so he wouldn't wake. "You mean to tell me that you two have been helping Koenma as well?"

"Well, yeah," Bri said as if it were the plainest thing before our eyes. "Why d'you think Tokyo's been so peaceful? We're been taking care of it for years!"

"How old were we when he decided to ask us for help?" Kuronue asked, scratching behind his ears. Just as he had done in the old days. "Five?"

"Seven," Bri corrected. "We were seven."

"Oh, yeah! That was when you still had that patch missing in your hair and you—"

"Okuro!" she shouted. A blush crossed her cheeks. "We don't talk about that. Just like we don't talk about the time that Yue—"

"Okay, okay! You'd think you were my sister or something," Kuronue rolled his eyes. It had always been amusing how Kuronue joked the obvious as something that wasn't true.

Now, however, I was not amused.

"You've been working for Koenma since you were seven," I stated as plainly and without emotion as I could. "And I never knew about this?"

"Er…well, there was kind of…another factor…er…sorry?" Kuronue winced slightly under my gaze. "Cut it out, you look like Mr. Black Angel!"

"Black Angel?" I said. "You were not born when we were fighting Sensui."

"The dead have ways of seeing that you know nothing of," Kuronue said bitterly, leaning against the frame of the door. What did that mean? "Now, what were we here for exactly? I don't think this was merely a ploy for a family reunion, otherwise Bri and I wouldn't be here."

Bri looked as if she'd only just remembered something and stalked like something far more feline than a fox up to Koenma's desk. She glared at the teenager in the eye and growled low in her chest. Her school uniform rode higher as she leaned over to speak directly to him.

"I don't know what you're doing, your mighty toddlerness, but I expect it to be good if you broke your contract."

Koenma, to my secret pleasure, gulped visibly and barely audibly. He coughed for his voice, but it still cracked a bit when he spoke.

"Y-yes, of course."

Bri stalked past me seated on the floor with Jun and Yume, slammed the door that Kuronue jumped away from at the last minute, leaned against it, and crossed her arms over her chest. In an instant, she was calm, angelic, and sweet. The girl that I'd known better on her good days, or rather, minutes. There were very few of those since the death of Marion Wolf.

For some reason, I could picture her happier at my side. We shared our love for what she called "demonized DDR" and each other. I saw Gabriel, the angel of fate, painted by her own hand. The first true attempt at art that she had made, and yet I knew for a fact that she'd been drawing art since she was three years old. Why was it that I always grew confused around Bridget Kokomo Wolf?

I knew I was in love. But, as with Maya, I had to keep love out of my life. Were I to confess and go through with a relationship, I would cause a girl only pain. But…if she were able to protect herself…Was there a way?

No, human society would shun such a relationship. After all, she was my student, my best friend, a family friend. I was merely a friend in her sights, someone she could count on for comfort. She would never accept a relationship like that with me.

"Well." Koenma cleared his throat for our attention again, pulling me from my difficult, spiraling trail of thought. I hadn't been so deeply confused since I accepted Yomi's invitation to be his advisor so many years ago. Since my mother, stepfather, and stepbrother had been put in jeopardy by my actions.

As I never would do to Bri.

"Well," Koenma said again. "The reason I asked you all here is rather difficult to explain. If my original team remembers, we once were dragged into a tournament known as the Dark Tournament several years ago."

"Yeah, the one where we were all nearly killed?" Yusuke grumbled.

"I'm afraid…someone has suggested a similar tournament, not for reign in Demon world nor for a constant, uncontrolled portal between the worlds." Koenma sighed and stared at the fingers that he steepled a moment later. "It is for a different reason."

"W-w-w-wait a second here," Koko interrupted. "'Dark Tournament'? You never told me anything about a tournament, Snowball!"

I smiled softly at the nickname. I had never once heard either of them say "I love you" to the other. They instead seemed to take up calling each other names. I had no idea where Hiei had gotten the nickname of "Keiko" for Koko, but "Snowball" for Hiei seemed to fit the bill exactly. He was half ice apparition, after all, even if the fire side of him was dominant over the ice.

Jun pressed his hand against my face, tugging at my cheek.

"Mr. Fox, Kurama, sir, how come your face does that weird thing? I see mommy do that all the time, but daddy never does that, how come, how come?"

"Jun, he's only smiling, you do it, too," Koko said, rolling her eyes. "Sorry, he just does that whenever he thinks it'll get any kind of reaction from someone. Growing up with him," she pointed at Hiei, "really made Jun want to get reactions from people."

"Sounds like Hn-meister hasn't changed one bit," Bri laughed. "Jun, let go of Kurama's face. Why don't you come see Aunt Bri?"

"Aunt Bri, Aunt Bri!" Jun knelt roughly on one of my knees and ran into my student's arms. "Will we get sweet snow later?"

Koenma coughed loudly. "As I was _saying_." He sent a pointed look toward Koko. "I'm not sure why this person created the tournament. As far as we know, it is a human that is running it. That is what our readouts and watchers have suggested. However, they have built an astonishing array of blockers so that that's all we really know about them. Spirit world intelligence has read and analyzed the writing, but we haven't been able to match any known criminals in our database."

"Writing?" Bri said. "You mean this person _wrote_ to you?"

"Yes, exactly that is what so puzzling about it," Koenma said. He turned on his computer screen. In neat, dainty writing that was somehow quite familiar to me was a letter. "See for yourself."

It read as such:

_To Lord Koenma, owner of Team Urameshi of the Dark Tournament,_

_I am pleased to announce that a new tournament is underway and your team, in addition to the two new fighters you've managed to scrounge up, are cordially demanded to fight on your behalf. Should any of the fighters decline, I can and will use drastic measures to ensure a good show at my tournament._

_It will occur in a year's time, during the fall break that your two under aged fighters have that the school system in this country finds so amusing. Enclosed, you will find the list of the other fighters who will be joining our little tournament. I assure the entirety of Demon world and the little cliques I have in Human world a good show. Do not prove me wrong or face my wrath._

_Yours truly, _

_The Moon_

_P.S. I will show you ten percent of my abilities at the coordinates attached in one day's time. Thank you for your consideration._

"The Moon?" Yusuke cried indignantly. "Who the hell is The Moon?"

I sighed softly, so as not to wake his sleeping daughter. "I assume you waited the day's time that it took for her to show you 'ten percent' before contacting us?"

"You're right, as always," Koenma sighed, too, massaged his forehead. "Whoever this 'moon' person is, they destroyed one of the barriers between Human and Demon world. The Spirit World Defense Force has been closing the hole and dealing with lower class beasts for nearly five hours. They got it closed okay, but the Kekkai inside of it is in shambles. My father hasn't heard yet, but…"

"A tournament like that…who are the other two who're supposed to—oh." Kuwabara stared at Bri and Kuronue. "It's you two?"

"Yeah, us two," Bri rolled her eyes. "Who'd you think, the Grim Reaper? Toddlerness? Hah, I could beat those two in my sleep. Although, I must admit…I could beat you only just so."

"Hey! You could not!"

"I am not going to argue with an idiot," Bri said, shifting Jun. "I can beat you, simple and clean. Okuro could beat you in his sleep same as I could beat peony power."

Kuwabara was about to argue further (when did he not?), when Yukina placed a single hand on his shoulder. He grunted and leaned back against the wall. I didn't notice it, but Kuronue had done the same thing to Bri. The two retreated to their respective corners to sulk and I hid a grin in Yume's black hair.

"Please, you're supposed to be a team! You're acting like children," Keiko said. "I'd expect something like that out of Kuwabara, but never you, Bri."

"Hey, I'm older than she is!" Kuwabara yelled, his voice squeaking.

"Bri is more mature," Keiko said. "And as such—"

"Would you all shut up for a minute!" Koenma shouted. "I'm trying to explain something here!"

Keiko scowled at the teenage boy and sat back against the wall. Jun slid out of Bri's arms and went to Keiko's. It simply amazed me how much Keiko had grown up since Yusuke's return, their mating and marriage. Yusuke sighed and held his head in his hands. I think ruling a world, being a father, and still being a Spirit Detective at times had taken its toll on the halfling.

"What about the children?" Yusuke asked. Yume stirred in my lap. "I mean, I can't exactly just drop everything to go training anymore."

It amazed me far more how much Yusuke had matured.

"I realize that," Koenma sighed. "But I also know that you can spare _some_ time. I know you all have other things to do, that's why I had been putting more of the smaller cases to Bri and Kuronue. With Kuwabara's medical practice, Kurama's duel life as a teacher and an heir, Hiei's life as an heir—I realize it, okay? But the fact of the matter is that this person has the power to do things that even my father has trouble doing. I don't know how or where she got it, she just did. She _will_ drag you into it, whether you've trained or not."

"Well, then. We had best work as much as we can," I said.

"Great, the group's getting back together," Yusuke said. "When can we go eat at Genkai's?"

"She's still alive?" Kuwabara asked, rather stupidly, I might add.

…

…

…

Oo Yes, I've finally started the blatant part of our plot…Before you all back out of this, the tournament that will be held will be _completely_ different from much of what we've seen before. Think Yuu Kaitou's test in the House of Four Dimensions. Only, the YYH crew, plus Kuronue and Bri, have no clue that that is what they'll be facing.

And we've got a bit of stuff to do before that lovely day, anyway.

Peeka-Chan: Cakes, are you feelin' all right? Running in circles is not good for one's health…Here is the update. 

Rokhaya: Very, very smart guess, but it wasn't Tsuki. And you won't find out for quite some time…(is looking at future chapters, grinning away) Are you a new reviewer? O.O I'm shocked you read all the way through Heal Me and Wolf's Last Cry…all the way to Chapter 9 of UF…I bow to your mighty ability to get through my drivel.

Kuramafan: (GLOMP) I love you! You sat there and did all that math just for me! (throws a wild party) I think I'm going to get to my dream. I've had too many of those small chapters. I put them together with other chapters. In fact, the next chapter is three small ones (laughs). I think everyone has their suspects for the bluebell person, but I don't think anyone's gonna get it. I put in a MAJOR clue in a few chapters down the road, but I still don't think people will get it even then. (dancing still.) Thank you!

Lucifer: Oh, he finds a way to get that information out of Bri. But it's not the way you think. I was thinking about the overhearing thing, but I think it's been overdone. So, I just let something happen that makes her have to explain _something_. And I don't think Bri will have any super-special powers. I hate cliché, and that's usually a really cliché thing to do. Hopefully, the chapters will be longer. I've been combining the shorter ones together.

Black Cello: I've been out for the summer for three weeks and I'm bored stiff. And I wasn't the one "bamming" myself, it was my folks. But, I've had my first job interview, and hopefully I will get a job soon. Then everything will be hunky-dunky again. Hopefully. I think we should change out our President, don't you? Lovely chap, but definitely not presidential material.

HellzFireAngel: Well…I'm in no way opposed to a relationship of an older person to a younger person, actually. I don't think it's wrong, just as long as it is truly love and not some stupid thing like money or fame. A lot of people in my family married people at least ten years older or younger than them. So, I think Kurama and Bri would be able to be together, even though society shunned them. And the Makai won't. Kurama was already much older than Bri at the beginning of Heal Me. Fifteen years won't be much different to him.

Saori: I have a patience that borders on insanity for a lot of other people. I can't keep quiet about my stories aloud, but I love teasing people, giving them hints. For some reason, I love seeing brains ticking. Hey, it took me a while to come up with the plot, may as well let other people think, too, right? (laughs) What site is it that you've gotten onto? You'll have to send it through email, stupid fan fiction dot net won't let actual urls show up in review. Sometimes not in the story mode, either. I don't mind the not reviewing every chapter.  Sometimes I don't either, if I don't have anything to say. That's rare, though. Are you getting out of school here shortly, then?


	11. Back to Before

Disclaimer: Who knows where the Yu Yu Hakusho artist got the idea for everything, but I do know that he's where I got a lot of the ideas in this story. I'm only borrowing!

Chapter 11: Back to Before

…Koko…

I could tell Bri was still furious about the new development. Honestly, I was shocked to find out just how much Koemna had come to depend on her and Kuronue. She came to me in my house in the Makai. For once, Kuronue wasn't with her. Ever since she was born, I'd rarely, if ever, seen the two apart. It was a new sight.

But a welcome one, now that she looked like she was mostly supposed to at last. Those golden streaks through her hair were new, as well as the slightly softer glow she had around her. The result of her fire kitsune heritage, as opposed to cat demon. We both still had some attributes of Tsuki, although the good majority were gone. Some stupid effect of the time stream that I didn't pay attention to the explanation of.

"I don't care whether I have to fight in some stupid tournament like this, but I would rather Koenma have _warned _me before exposing Kuronue and I like that," she grumbled.

She sank onto one of the many bean-bag-like cushions of our "living room". Each one was like an Eygptian dais, which Hiei had never explained the significance of. Sometimes I wondered why I had allowed him back into my life. It's the effect of falling so damn hard for a man who barely speaks three words most of the time.

"Bri, it's not like…" The words died on my tongue. I really had no excuse for the toddler and I had no real reason to back him up.

What the hell _happened_ to me? I used to be able to make such sharp comebacks. I must've gotten old. Yeah, that's it. I got old. At age thirty. Of course, with the demonic influence of Hiei in my blood, I'll probably remain looking like a freakin' sixteen-year-old until my death. Which probably won't be for a few hundred years…

"What's done is done," Bri sighed. "And I can't exactly kill a god."

"Even one as annoying as toddlerness," I agreed. I liked Bri's nickname for Koenma. It reminded me of the old days that "never happened", according to Bri.

"I'm no where near as powerful as Kuronue or even Kuwabara," she sighed. "I was bluffing him out. I couldn't beat him, even by a hairsbreath. I'm a middle 'D' class, Koko, I can't possibly survive a tournament like this!"

"Then _train longer_," I said. "Ask Koenma if you can use the Chronodom after school, have a month instead of an afternoon."

"Do you think King Yama would _allow_ that kind of abuse in the time stream?"

"He let you be reborn, didn't he?" I asked dryly. She chuckled weakly.

"Yeah, but this is different. I don't know how to fight that much. I know karate, I'm decent with a bow and arrow, but…Koko, I don't think I can fight someone like that. Not on my own."

"Stop _worrying_ so much, you're like a damn kid," I said, rolling my eyes. "You know, supposedly you're only a year younger than me, but hanging out with all those high schoolers must've taken a toll on your maturity."

"This isn't the time for shitty jokes!"

"Wow, Bridget Wolf is cursing," I sighed. "Bri, listen. Just ask Kurama to help you. Or Kuronue. They'll help, they really will. You don't have to get all sentimental. It's just training. You're going to fight, we've all had something to fight for."

"And Kokomo Wolf is preaching to me, the world's going to end. Or someone's slipped my some crack." Bri sighed. "Fine. I'll ask. I'll ask Koenma if we can use the Chronodom, I'll ask my idiot brother and my math teacher to train me. Happy now?"

_Not until you're back with who you love. _"Yes, as soon as you keep that word."

"Have I ever failed to do so?"

_Yes_. "Not in this lifetime."

"Not in any lifetime. See you round, sis."

"You going back to Human world already?"

"Until I no longer can make myself appear to be the age I'm supposed to," she said, grinning brightly over her shoulder at me. "Like you, for instance?"

Bri opened the trap door of Hiei's hideout and slipped away. I sighed and glanced over at my own little boy fast asleep. Jun was already beginning to look like his father. I sighed again. What rotten luck the poor kid had, to end up looking like a man.

Of course, he is a boy…

I need to stop thinking so much. It harms the brain.

…

…Bri…

The only way I was going to do this was if Kurama and Kuronue _both_ agreed to come into that Chronodom with me. There was no way—_no way_—I was going in there with Kurama alone. Koenma immediately, to my surprise, agreed to allow us into the place. He even gave me the key. Considering his reaction last time to letting people use the place, I'd expected more of a struggle to get it.

"Okuro, I called Kurama over," I said, knocking on my brother's door. He opened it, revealing a fact that I hadn't really counted on. He wasn't exactly dressed.

"What's wrong, sis?" he asked, a smirk crossing his face. "We've seen each other since we were born."

"You _know_ that isn't it, you idiot," I muttered. "Anyway, get dressed, Kurama's coming over and then we're going to train in the Chronodom."

"Seriously, you got permission from toddlerness?"

"Yes," I said. "He even gave me the key."

"Really?" He got this strange look on his face and it took me a minute to actually connect it to a word: thoughtful. Kuronue was thinking. What a surprise.

"Yeah, really. See you in a minute, I'm going to go let mother know that we're going out."

I walked back down the stairs, which now had several of my more formal art pieces framed in silver. Normal people had photographs of their kids on the walls. Ichigo Wolf had paintings of hers. I smiled faintly. Our mother certainly took care of us. She cared only about us. I didn't want to hurt her again. After losing Marion…

I just wouldn't tell her what we'd been doing, as we'd been doing for years. She would never have to know that we were constantly putting our lives on the line. I don't think mother could take that. After all, Marion had been murdered in a dark alley. What would she do if she knew that it was us in danger?

She'd probably turn into Super Mom and try to fight our battles for us. And that, Kuronue and I just couldn't have. We were her protectors now.

I found mother at the kitchen table with the newspaper. Her golden hair had become limp, lifeless, and her once-smiling eyes were now dull. I ran my hand through the natural golden highlights that went with my human illusion. Kuronue and I both had a fox form, but his ears were naturally humanoid, unlike mine.

I sighed inwardly. The first time I'd seen my real fox spirit form, I'd freaked out at the golden ears twitching atop my head. I was luckily too young for mother or father to worry much once I calmed myself down some more. Kuronue had a good long laugh at me and he'd never really let me forget it. Both of us had a single tail, which easily wrapped around our waists and basically vanished with a simple illusion spell.

Sometimes I loved being a half fox spirit.

And I was also lucky that I hadn't yet turned into the _true_ fox.

I think that I would really have freaked at that.

"Good afternoon, Bridget," Mother said with a gentle smile. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Sometimes I wondered at my mother's skills of simple knowing. I knew she had gotten some of Marion's powers, but since he passed, they were slowly eroding away. I think this "knowing" that she had was true of all mothers. Keiko said it was, and Jun and Yume were always telling me about their moms.

"Yeah," I said. "Okuro and I are going to the park this afternoon to study with Kurama for class. You know how my math is." I laughed at myself. It was true, even after all these years, my math was still horrendous. Mother smiled.

"All right, but remember, you must be home by ten."

"We will, Mother," I said, making a deep mental note in my head. Ten o'clock. "We only have to wait for Kurama to get here and then we'll be going."

"Remember to come say good-bye before you leave," she said before turning back to the newspaper. I noticed that she always followed her employer's cases in the paper. He was a big-time lawyer of some sort. I never paid much attention to it. Case number seventeen, he must be busy. I heard a small crash from outside, but before I went to investigate, my mother explained.

"The Junanas are going on a business trip for the next month. The Hong Kong firm needs his assistance for now."

"Oh," I nodded. "So they're packing up everything, just like that?"

"Yes, you know how they are," Mother laughed. "Everything must be brand new every few months or so."

"Yeah," I said. I heard Kurama's trademark knock at the front door, three quick taps and no more. "That'll be Kurama."

I answered the front door, to the gentle scent of roses and the more dangerous ones of several Makai and South American plants. Kurama never went anywhere unarmed, but I had never really figured out how he stored several roses and at least twenty different kinds of plants in his hair. Not in all the time I'd known him had he explained it. It was beginning to bug me.

"Hey, teach," I said, letting a grin spread over my face. I turned around and shouted up the stairs. "Okuro, you ready to go!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your skirt on."

"Dang it! I'm still in my school uniform!"

"You forget something?" Kuronue grinned, coming down the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt. I glanced at Kurama, chagrined and definitely not happy with myself. And I was screaming at Kuronue for not being dressed…

"I'll be down in a minute…" I said, and zipped up the stairs as fast as I could. I fired a quick message to Kuronue. _You make a big deal out of this, bat-boy, and I'll have your balls for breakfast tomorrow._

_Yes, ma'am._

I dove into my semi-clean bedroom and grabbed the first thing my fist wrapped around that wasn't a skirt—my baggy cargo jeans from last weekend. I pulled the pink and red thing of a school uniform over my head, leaving me in my red A-shirt—it would have to do. I dashed back down the stairs, still zipping up the jeans. Both boys stared at me (I'd never worn just my undershirt around either) as I pulled open the doors.

"Are we going or aren't we?" I asked over my shoulder. "Bye, Mom, see you when we get home! Okuro, come on!"

…

The door to the Chronodom hadn't changed at all since I'd last "seen" it. It was still a plain white door with a simple silver, locked knob. I glanced over my shoulder at the boys, who were silent.

"Might want to close your eyes," I advised.

I shoved the ornate silver key Koenma had given me in the lock and turned, closing my own eyes carefully. I wasn't sure what effect the light would have on me, though I knew exactly what would happen to Kurama and Kuronue. If the effect was the same, I didn't want the kind of questions that would come with that sort of transformation.

Kuronue tapped on my shoulder a few minutes after I had closed the door, having not looked to see if they were in yet. When I turned around to see my brother, I saw instead the man that he had been. I smirked at his bat wings, giving them a solid tug or two. He didn't look very much different, actually. Just older, with purple eyes, and those insane bat wings. Kurama had followed my advise, and was still his normal, cuddly red-haired human self.

"I prefer the new you," I said. "No way you can fly off on me that way."

"I'll take note," Kuronue said wryly. His voice was a little deeper, but not by much. He was still my "big" brother. "How long does it take to wear off?"

"Depends," I shrugged. "About ten minutes, I'd say."

"How would you know, Bri?" Kurama asked. "Is this not the first time you've been here, as well?"

I felt a pang in my chest. The old, familiar pain that I had every once in a while just by looking at him. For some reason, it was a lot worse now. Maybe it was just the blatant reminder that this was not the same Kurama I knew as a lover, but the one that I knew as a family friend, an uncle even. That's how he viewed me: A little niece, a daughter even, a friend only. He would never be able to see me again as his girlfriend, let alone consider me as a mate.

"No, it isn't," I said with what I hoped was just my old, knowing smile. "Who's up for a spar or two?"

…

…

…

Bit shorter than I thought…Well, we've gotten back into the Chronodom, and I'm betting Kurama's even more confused. He'll seem to be disregarding some of it for a bit, but you know Kurama: always thinking. He'll figure some things out, we all know that. It'll take some time, though.

Peeka-Chan: I overreact a lot, and when I saw "I got all of my friends hooked," I was like: O.O I have a cult following! Ah! That's so awesome! vv Yes, I'm stupid. And how did you _ever_ manage to guess that The Moon was Tsuki/Yue? Yes, I was a bit blatant with that one. No, you may not kill her, that's my job. (smiling) However, her character has changed a little bit, so you may not wish to kill her right away.

Black Cello: Oo oO Oo You'd poison me with cake? Nu! Nu poison cake! Okay, okay, overreacting idiot right here…A note on our lovely President: He got in on his father's tail feathers (which weren't very pretty anyway) and the second time round, he got in because Kerry is a backstabbing liar. Just as a note, I voted Kerry. I was eighteen this time round. Yep, Kurama loves Bri. But he's got a few moral dilemmas of his own, so he's holding back as well. So we've got two stubborn fools who don't even realize they love each other. --() Yup, sounds like a story I'd write. Oh, wait, I am the writer…I know what you mean about housework, though. I'm looking for a job (pay for college) _and_ doing all the housework. I'm the only girl aside from my mother, and mom's just got out of surgery. I've got two little bros, but Dad's traditional and thinks "men" aren't supposed to do normal things like sweeping and mopping and laundry and stuff. --() I'm marrying a guy who can do his own stinking laundry…

DramaMama01: Sorry, I've already written that part…the only person whose reactions you really see are Kurama's, and that's only cause Bri tells him. And not in a very pretty way, either. You'll see…

Lucifer: This chapter was supposed to be longer…I think I cut something out between the time I wrote this and the time I posted the other one. The tournament, as I've said, will not be traditional fighting, although that's what The Moon has led them to believe. Bri is the one who reveals herself to Kurama, but in a most interesting way…You'll just have to wait and see. (grins)

Kuramafan: Cakes, you know I wouldn't complete this story without a little more punch than the last two times, right? The tournament won't be traditional fighting, as I've said before. It's going to be really interesting because it's more of the mind than the body. You'll just have to wait and see. And I agree with you about society's ills about love. It's stupid and immoral to keep people apart who are destined to be.

Sillylittlenothing: Yeah, Human world won't accept their relationship. But…Demon world will. I can't wait until their first kiss…I still haven't written that part and I'm already at the start of the tournament…T.T I'm as impatient as you guys are to see them back together.


	12. Seeing the Light

Disclaimer: Ding, dong, the witch is dead, which old witch, the wicked witch, the wicked witch of—Omigod, it's Kurama! Oh, wait, that's just the wicked witch…KILL HER! SHE'S FACADING AS KURAMA! I don't own the Wizard of Oz for this lovely (looks at the "song" with a sweatdrop) opening. Nor do I own Yu Yu Hakusho, the purpose of this disclaimer.

Chapter 12: Seeing the Light

…Kurama…

"Rose Whip!" I smirked slightly as the whip caught Bri round the waist and pulled her to the ground with a satisfying "oof!"

"No fair!" she pouted. The whip incinerated to blackened ash right out of my hands. She pounced like a tiger on my back, pulling me to the ground. I stared with crossed eyes at the fiery arrow between my eyes. A gloating smirk was on her face as she rocked back on my legs, pinning me. "Give?"

"Youko Kurama never gives." Kuroune called from the sidelines, almost mockingly cocky in my "abilities". "Get 'er, Rama!"

"What time is it?" Bri asked, still holding the arrow between my eyes. I shrank away from its heat. I was in no real danger from Bri, but I'd promised to hold back enough that she could fight me on even footing. However, even I could get burned.

"About nine thirty outside," Kuronue said. "We should get home."

The arrow vanished. "Yeah."

Bri climbed off of my back and offered a hand up. I bit back a groan of disappointment at the loss of heat. I admit it, somewhere in the back of my head, I do love this girl. But…it was wrong. This wasn't the way that I was supposed to fall in love. I was supposed to fall for a girl my own age, at least in the human world.

Someone who loved me back.

Bri could never love an "old man" like me. I was well over a thousand years old, and my human body was nearing its thirty-first birthday. I had to remind myself, I'd watched this girl grow up from the time she was three. Gun Wa, Kuronue, and Ichigo would all murder me if I even thought of being anything more to her.

Koko and Hiei would probably burn me to a crisp, blow me up, then contemplate how to best murder me even more to death.

"Kura-a-ama…" Bri sang, waving her hand in front of my face. "I know we're in a slow-time dimension and all, but we do need to go sometime today in the other dimension."

I smiled. "I'm sorry, I was thinking."

"What about? I haven't seen you that deep in thought since Koenma announced this little party," Bri said.

She pulled me—effortlessly—to my feet. She'd gotten so much stronger since we'd begun our training, and yet she still couldn't even match Kuwabara's strength. I was beginning to lose hope for her, and yet I knew Bri wouldn't give up for anything. It was one of the traits I loved about her.

I need a girlfriend. Someone _my _age. Someone to distract me from Bri, someone to keep me away from her. But how can I do that if she's constantly at my apartment, in my classroom, training with her brother and I? She's always in my life, and I don't want to change that.

I have to remind myself how old she is. I have to remind myself, this girl is just a child, she could never love me the same way. How can I do that, though? How can I convince myself to let my student, my friend, my little "niece" alone?

"Kurama?" Bri stared at my eyebrows—she never looked me in the eye.

"It's nothing," I said, smiling. "Come on, we should get you home."

"Okay," she nodded. "Well, don't forget to close your eyes this time, we don't want to be late again like last time."

That's it! I'll somehow trick her to look at the Chronodom light! That way, she'll turn back into a small child. I'll be reminded of who she is. But how? She's always so careful to avoid it.

Bri opened the door, letting Kuronue and I pass through.

I would need Kuronue's help.

…

"You want to trick Bri into opening her eyes at the door to the Chronodom?" Kuronue blinked at me, admittedly as if I'd grown more than a few extra tails. "Are you _nuts_? Do you even know what it'll _do_ to her? She might disappear!"

"No, I asked Koenma," I said. Though, I had to admit, Koenma did seem awfully panicky when he answered. "No one disappears, even if they already _are_ a child. In fact, most people turn into their previous incarnations if they are a child already."

"Oh," Kuronue said, a little weakly. He glanced over his shoulder at the front of the coffee shop, a sure sign he was going to change the subject. "So what do you make of this little tournament we're going to be in?"

"This 'The Moon' person has shaken Koenma deeply. I believe our godling prince is hiding something more from us. The letter appeared to cut out for a moment toward the end." I took a sip of my hot chocolate. "I think he altered it."

"That sounds like toddlerness." Kuronue rolled his eyes. "What do you think it is that he is hiding?"

"I believe there is more at stake than Koenma is revealing." _Which is why_, I added silently. _I must get Bri Wolf out of my mind_.

Kurone nodded silently. "Yeah…You know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I think I've got a way to make Bri open her eyes at the door to the Chronodom."

…

…Bri…

I had a bad feeling about today. It was one of those feelings that don't seem to be grounded in anything, like they are usually for me. It was just a general bad feeling. I guess it started when Yue came to my front door and sprayed silly string in my face. My mother had to leave early for work, leaving me to make lunch for a ravenous Kuronue. I made rainbow trout salad, kinda like tuna, only with Kurama's favorite fish.

For some reason, I knew he was coming over early, too.

And, just as I was done adding mustard to the mix, the doorbell rang and there was Kurama in his tattered jeans and a red t-shirt. The clothing he'd taken to wearing during our little training sessions. I wondered what had happened to the dress-like Chinese outfits that he seemed to enjoy in his "youth", but I didn't ask. Considering that jeans and a blue t-shirt is exactly what I always wore, maybe he figured out that they were more comfortable, I guess.

As I was saying, I have a bad feeling about today. I also had the feeling that it was only going to get worse. I set the bowl of rainbow trout salad on the table with a loaf of wheat bread and sat next to my brother and across from my best friend. Kurama helped himself to the rainbow trout before speaking.

"You recall that I said that Koenma may have altered the letter?"

Kuronue and I nodded as one.

"I've finally managed to worm the information from him."

Nods.

"Should The Moon's team win her tournament, she demands that Koenma and King Yama turn over ruling of Spirit World and command over Demon World and Human World over to her."

Kuronue fell over in his seat. "WHAT!"

I scoffed. "I suspected something stupid like that. She wants to rule the three worlds."

"There was also another part to the agreement, however, it pertains to our team. Koenma refuses to release that information, even under pretense of bodily harm."

At this, my eyes went wide as I could make them. I probably looked like an anime character with my eyes completely dominating my face.

"_Toddlerness_, keeping information even from the threat of _torture_? There's something you don't see everyday."

Kurama chuckled. "Yes, which is why I pressed no further. If the Moon is as influential as she has demonstrated and she wishes us to know, she will find a way to inform us."

"Yeah…" Kuronue nodded, fixing his chair. He sat in it backwards, resting his head upon the wooden frame. "Ya know, never thought I'd ever get back to bein' alive, let alone bein' a half fox."

"It's been fifteen years and you're still thinking about that?" I asked, amused.

"Well, yeah," he shrugged. In our minds, he continued. _Hey, you never thought I'd be your brother, either._

_True. I never thought I'd be born in this time stream._

"You two are impossible," Kurama said, chuckling. "What is it that you can't speak of aloud?"

"How'd you know we were talking to each other still?" Kuronue asked, giving away the fact anyway. I sighed.

"We probably space out or something."

"On the contrary, you focus on other things," Kurama said, smiling over his trout. "Never actually on each other. That is how I've come to tell."

"Oh, really, what did I focus on, then?" I asked. I never really paid much attention to what I stared at when talking to Kuronue.

"Me," Kurama said, laughing. I hid my blush by ducking to get more trout. "Kuronue always focuses on the nearest place higher than his head. In this case, the vase full of flowers."

"It's 'cause he doesn't want to be caught staring at me or Hiei or Koko," I said, laughing off the fact that I'd been staring at Kurama. "So he sets his sights high. I wouldn't be surprised if he started going out with Shizuru. Or maybe Kuwabara!" I laughed even harder at the image of my brother and Kuwabara kissing.

"That is wrong in more ways than I can count," Kuronue muttered. He grabbed a red rose out of the vase in front of us and whapped me over the head with it a few times. It didn't hurt—I was laughing too hard to notice.

"Kuwabara…Kuronue…" I fell off my seat laughing.

"Shut up, Bri!"

"W-why—should I…?" I managed to sputter out.

"Because! You look ridiculous! And I'd never go out with Kuwabara!"

Once they actually got me to stop laughing, we headed for Spirit World and the Chronodom for our daily training. We actually had several days each time we went into the Chronodom, but the white board easily provided everything we needed, including a third bed for Kuronue. I still slept underneath Kurama.

Every time I opened the door, I commanded everyone to close their eyes. But Kuronue and Kurama liked seeing me poke and prod at their past forms, so sometimes they didn't. I was meticulous about keeping my own eyes closed, however. Today, it seemed, we were constantly getting stopped outside the hall by one person or another. George was the last person to do this. I finally sighed and handed the Chronodom key over to Kuronue for a minute. He trailed off toward the door, vaguely stating that he was going to open it for us.

"What is it, George?"

"Koenma-sama said that he wanted to make sure you had everythi—"

"It's the Chronodom, George, we can write everything on the white board and get just about anything we need," I said patiently.

He blinked stupidly. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot."

I sighed. "Anything else?"

"Uh, no, that's all."

"This is rather strange, don't you agree?" Kurama asked as we made our way toward the Chronodom for the umpteenth time. "Are you sure Kuronue knows how to open the door, Bri?"

"Of course, he does, it's a door," I said.

However, when we got to the Chronodom, Kuronue was twisting and pulling and yanking at the door, having barely put the key in at all.

"Can't get…stupid door…to open!" he yelled, huffing. I rolled my eyes as he continued in his efforts of vainly trying to open the door without unlocking it.

"Move over, bat boy, and let a real—"

He opened the door.

The light flashed in my eyes.

No one breathed a word.

Kurama stared. Kuronue tried to hide himself behind his wings.

I breathed slowly, in and out, in and out, trying to come up with an explanation of why my hair was suddenly shorter, why I was missing my golden highlights, why I looked distinctly more cat-like, why I was nineteen instead of fifteen. Why I was wearing the last thing I had on before getting eaten by a tiger demon—a pair of nice jeans and a button-down blouse, my torn-up red sneakers.

I couldn't explain it, nor could Kurama stop staring at me. Kuronue bit his lip, both wings twitching. Kurama was still in his human form, being far enough from the light not to get hit by its effects. Slowly, he blinked, walked toward me.

"B-Bri…?"

"Yeah. It's me, still."

He got too close to the light and suddenly he was Youko again. I flinched, unable to stop this body's reaction to the fox I'd known so well and yet not at all. He backed away a half-step before blinking those gorgeous golden eyes at me again. Not again. I wasn't falling for him again.

But I'd already fallen.

"Let's go inside," I sighed. "It will take a long time to explain."

One thing was for certain: I was going to murder Okuro Marion Wolf.

…

…Kurama…

My mind wouldn't stop spinning. Bri, Bri, Bri, this was Bri, but it wasn't the Bri I knew. She smelled strange, like catnip and bluebells, but she still smelled of the Bri I knew. Of paint and oil, of the roses that she had denied she liked for so many years. The golden highlights in her hair, natural and delicate, the color of her ears and tail, were gone, her hair shorter. She looked older. Nineteen or twenty, although she was just a little shorter. I stared at her.

She _should_ have turned into a baby.

But instead…she only turned more beautiful than before.

When she spoke, I could hear only a tiny difference in her voice, only a few notches lower than her normal one.

The most awful of it all was that weird déjà vu that had haunted me for twelve long years, ever since I'd first set foot in Bridget Wolf's house.

"I am not…who you think I am," Bri said softly. She sat at the white board counter of the Chronodom, with the heaviness that only one who is wary can obtain.

"He can see that—"

"Shut the hell up, Kuronue" she murmured tersely. My brain stopped spinning, briefly. Bri _never_ told her brother to be silent and she _rarely_ said the word "hell". It was like her own personal curse word. She never went any farther than it. "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

"This is why you could draw and write and read so high as a child."

"Yeah." She blushed, glancing at the clock-covered walls. "It is. But…thing is, I'm not a reborn, like Kuronue or even in a pirated reborn like you. It's hard to explain, and I don't really want to explain right now." She shot a glare at Kuronue, who was starting to laugh at her slightly ineloquent explanation. "Let me just put it this way…I've really lived for about…thirty to thirty-one years. Give or take."

My mind spun again. She was around the same age as my human body. I finally settled on something to say.

"I don't know what to say."

Bri snorted softly. "The great Youko Kurama, out of things to say. I'll make a note of this day in my journal. Can we get to training, please?"

"Of course. And I apologize."

"What for?"

"For whatever it is you want to hide from me."

She offered a small, sad smile. "Don't be. It's not your fault. It's mine."

Somehow, I knew that it wasn't entirely not my fault.

Although she finally became herself, even dropping the human façade she carried in favor of her golden fox ears and tail, I could still smell the bellflowers.

…

…

…

Has anyone realized that certain characters might still be alive? Just a thought.

Peeka-chan: Nope, no murdering Yue…I happen to like what he character has become, actually. No, no cults necessary. Hopefully, though, you'll still be around when I announce that one of my books have been published. Maybe. Hopefully. Popcorn's nice.

Black Cello: The funny thing is, about five minutes after I got your review, my mom came home with a box of sugar cookies. Oo How weird is that. Actually, the revealing happened somewhat this chapter. More revealing to come, though. You need to write a good long story, too. I need reading material. The instrument called Black Cello must think and write. :)

Kohari: I am soooo pleased to have you all caught up now:) Thank you for reviewing every chapter since Heal Me, you've made my dream of six years come true—100 reviews on Wolf's Last Cry! (throws a party) Thank you! (glomp)

Lucifer: I know, I'm getting a bit frustrated with them myself…and I'm already on the tournament. She will be a _bit_ stronger as a half fox, especially with her mother's blood. However, she's still not very powerful. I don't like those all-powerful characters that always seem to save the day. Even Yusuke has his drawbacks. But, she will be able to protect herself somewhat now, and that's what counts.

Seeyu: Have I seen you before or are you a new reviewer? If so, welcome to the party! I guess you'll just have to see…You know Kurama figures it all out in the end, but he has some help. I dunno, Bri's kinda strong-minded…but even so, she will break eventually. We all do.

Sillylittlenothing: As you can see, Kurama has figured out that Bri is not entirely who she's made herself seem. However, we still have a bit more to go before Bri spills some more, and even _more_ till she spills all. Bri's real self (I don't dwell on looks much, but I do know what she looks like…) is very similar to her outer façade. She has golden ears, dark brown hair with golden highlights, and a very fluffy red fox-ish tail. Red foxes are very common, that's why I chose them. And Yue _does_ have something to do with the tournament. See if you can make the connection. She _isn't_ going to compete, though.

Kuramafan: For some reason, your review isn't showing up…I deleted it already from my inbox, too….T.T I will try to respond to any additional questions you have next chapter, or you can just ask in chat when we meet….Sorry!


	13. Weasling

Disclaimer: Don't you wish that everyone could have a guy they liked to no end who loved them back unconditionally? I do. Oh, this is supposed to be a disclaimer. Amber, Matt, why don't you guys do it!

Matt: What the hell is this thing? And where am I!

Amber: Everything's black and white except us…

UK: Welcome to my world. Except, when the black and white melts away, everything's imagination-ally colored very well.

Matt: You mean like the episode of Spongebob where he jumps in a box and starts using his (waves both hands into a rainbow) _imagi-na-tion._

UK: (sweatdrop) Sort of. Okay, guys, do the disclaimer.

Matt: The what?

Amber: She explained this once…UK does not own YYH or Spongebob or us. He's just her brother and I'm his girlfriend.

UK: (grins) Thank you for people listening to me! On with the story!

Chapter 13: Weaseling

…Bri…

We were fast approaching the short winter break that Japan did allow its students for Christmas time. I sat back in my seat, letting my head fall back near the edge of the desk behind me. Kuronue was messing with Kita, again, and Yue was doing something devious, I'm sure. I wasn't in the mood for either of them. I just wanted to hurry up and get out to buy Kurama a Christmas present.

I'd shopped for all of my family members already. My mother, a silver chain she'd had her eye on. Kuronue, a joke kit that would probably be put to use on the haggard, nonrelated-to-us teachers and Kita. Gina, a new watercolor travel kit (expensive, but worth it). Uncle Gun Wa, a new pet snake that I was having delivered on Christmas Eve. I would give it to him early. Koko and Hiei and my little Jun and Yume…I'd shopped for everyone, okay? I hadn't forgotten a single person.

Except Kurama.

I had never, in all my Christmases and birthdays that I've had with him in this time stream, had trouble getting him a present. So what the hell was different now?

I answered my own question: He _knows_.

He _knows_ that I'm not the innocent little halfling he'd thought I was.

He _knows_ I'd lied to him for fifteen years.

He _knows_ that I lied.

I _lied_.

I hadn't thought of it that way before. But for weeks, months, now, that one thought has been eating me alive. Kuronue barely speaks through our link anymore, worried he'll get attacked or something. I'd never take it out on him, but it worried me that I hadn't thought of the fact that I had _lied_ to Kurama.

My best friend.

I moaned softly and nestled my head on my arms. We were between classes again, waiting for Kurama to come in just before lunch to teach us math. Most kids liked Kurama but hated the subject he teaches. I heard this through Kuronue, the more sociable of the two of us. I liked that, I guess. I liked my math teacher, too.

I just liked him more than most of them, and knew him better.

I think many of them would have run screaming from his Youko form. I might have, had I not known who he was. I guess I kind of had come to terms with Youko. I didn't like Kurama's past, but I knew that it couldn't have been helped. I had the Kurama I knew here and now and I probably would never have to face the true past like that ever again. I hoped not.

But without my cat-demon mother around, it would never happen.

Right?

I sighed and stared at the sliding door into the classroom. Almost as if on cue, Kurama slid the door open and walked in, his long red hair flying behind him. Despite his age, he looked good. Actually, it was because of his age that he looked good. To my perception, anyway. I nearly sighed aloud at the thought.

I was killing myself over a man I could never have.

I had responsibilities to my family, to my team. I had to fight in this tournament. I gulped in some air and blew it out through my nose, intent on paying attention to what Kurama was teaching instead of his every movement. He had gained some more scars in the years since his time at Meikou. There was a nasty one right on his face, pale, but deep enough to still leave an indentation.

It just made him all the more sexy.

I growled at myself inwardly. This was getting me nowhere. Kurama set his things up on the desk, ready with the homework he'd assigned yesterday. We went through each question and answer, worked through the ones people didn't get. I'd gotten help from him in the Chronodom for some of them, so I sort of just toyed around with a pencil in order to keep from staring at him.

After class let out, I stayed behind with my obento while Kuronue followed Kita to the second floor again. Kurama set his own on the desk, a rose-colored box with twisting vines on it. I'd painted it myself for him for his thirty-first birthday.

"He's something else," I sighed, staring after my brother's retreating back. "Was he always this focused on girls?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Kurama chuckled. "I got roped into quite a few of his little 'adventures' in that realm. Mostly saving his skin from the women he chose. For some reason, he liked the ones either infinitely weaker than him or twice as powerful."

I laughed at the thought. "Yeah, that sounds like Kuronue."

"Bri…" Kurama sounded reproachful, hopeful. Like he'd been wanting to say something for a long time and hadn't had the courage. I didn't think he ever had that tone. I've never heard it before. I cringed from it and set my blue chopsticks down.

"Yes, Kurama?"

"What was your past like?"

I took a double-take at him and nearly fell over my chair. Nearly, because he caught me and held my chair so I could right myself. I think he was expecting my reaction. It made my heart flutter, but my mind was doing that numb-pain that comes from too much thinking against one's emotions. I swallowed hard as I stared back at him, at his bangs that I'd figured out so well. His bang definitely wasn't jumping.

"I guess you deserve some of the story," I mumbled, hunching over my obento. He was still sitting politely, always politely even around me. It was like he was scared to make a mistake. "I guess you do…considering everything you've done for me…"

"Don't feel obligated to—"

"I _am_ obligated!" I snapped. Then, softer. "Sorry. It's just, my past isn't pretty."

"Neither is mine."

I smirked. _But would you believe me that we shared a prettier past together?_

"Yeah, I know. Kuronue's told me some of it, so's Koenma and the gang. I've picked up some bits and pieces with my Empathe powers. So, yeah, I know. The great thief of the Makai is seated across from me, the height of sinners."

He grimaced, something almost humorous to see. "When you put it that way…"

"Don't worry. You've more than redeemed yourself." _Unlike me_. "In the other time stream, I was born quarter cat demon. My mother, Tsuki, hated me and my father. He was still Marion Wolf. She killed him and sent me away. I somehow managed to meet Koko, who was named Keiko in that stream.

"I managed to find a boyfriend and some things happened with some demons. I won't go into it, mostly cause at the time, I wasn't in control of my own Empathe powers. And then Tsuki pushed me into a time portal into my boyfriend's past, where we were nearly killed by himself. Tsuki was completely unkillable, so I did the only thing I could. I went back in time and prevented her birth. So, I was a wandering soul. Because of my Empathe skills, I was able to keep my memories. Koko did too, and so did Botan and Gun Wa. That's all.

"Are you happy now?"

Kurama blinked at such a rapid, cold rendition of my "past". "Koko, Botan, and Gun Wa also remembered this other time?"

"Yes," I nodded. "And so did Hiei, come to think. Hiei was Koko's lover in the other time stream. They mated. That's why Hiei remembered her."

Kurama laughed and held his head lightly in one hand. He shook his head. "It seems almost impossible, improbable. And yet, everything fits. Before you were born, Hiei just appeared one day with a girl. None of us knew what to think. She was a quarter coyote."

"Don't coyotes usually eat foxes?" I asked with a wry smirk on my face. I just had to picture it now: Ayame eating Youko. It was a rather humorous image.

"Yes, they do. I was lucky to have surpassed most coyotes by the time I was five hundred," Kurama said. He did not smile and he wasn't dissuaded from continuing to question me. "But why did you wait so long to return? Koko was born long before you. In fact, she almost seemed to be keeping your father from women."

I smiled at the memory. "That was my doing. I wanted to be too young for my old boyfriend, you see."

"Too young? Why, Bri?"

I pursed my lips. "Wouldn't you if the same man had threatened to murder you in his past? He wouldn't recognize me, at all, and even then it wasn't certain we would be the same people." We were the same, sort of, but I didn't say that.

Kurama nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose. Have you met the man who was your boyfriend?"

I bit my lip. "Yeah. Yeah, I have."

"Is he…different?"

"No," I smiled. "Only older. Wiser by a few years. I decided not to pursue him, anyway. He has become a respectable man of the community. I don't want to ruin that, even if he is still single." I ate a few bits of my vegetables before continuing. "Besides, he would never think of me that way."

"I think he would, Bri," Kurama said earnestly. "Why not try? Even if he is a few years older than you. Pursue him. Ask him out, see if he wouldn't. You never know until you try."

I stared at him, at a loss for words. He had no idea what he was asking me to do. He had no idea that the man he was asking me to pursue was himself. No idea. And yet here he was, trying to hook me up with someone he had no idea the identity of, nor the actual age of. I don't think he knew what he was asking.

"You can't be serious," I said breathlessly. "I can't do that. He…he would reject me. He is over twice my age, as he sees it!" Well, he knows I'm _really_ something his age, but…

"And?"

"Society would damn us both!"

Kurama's lithe right brow arched in humor. "Bridget Kokomo Wolf, did I just hear a real curse word from you?"

I carefully narrowed my eyes. "I won't ask him. You won't find out who he is, and you will never be able to force me to ask him out. I will live without love."

"For hundreds of years?" Kurama asked, the brow rising higher. Now it was more in surprise than humor.

"Yes, for hundreds of years! I can live without a man, thank you very much." I jumped up from the seat, snapped the lid onto my empty obento box, and marched out of the room. I caught the final words from Kurama just as the door slid shut.

"I don't think you'll make it that long."

I growled under my breath, my blood coursing through my veins like white water. Hot tears fell from my eyes as I found a little niche in the girl's bathroom. Kurama, what are you _doing_ to me? Do you realize what you've started?

I curled up under the sink and let the tears fall.

…

…Kurama…

I confronted Hiei and Koko that same day. I was shocked, and slightly hurt, that two of my best friends had kept such vital information from me. But I think I knew that I would never have found out except from Bri herself. She seemed to be keeping it only from me, as even Jun seemed to know something of her "past", if only just the fact that she had one aside from this time stream.

"Bri didn't want to hurt you," Koko said, her voice softest, plainest since I'd first met her at Meikou almost sixteen years ago. "What did she tell you?"

"She told me about her boyfriend, though refused to say much more to his identity," I said.

I was helping her try and get a rowdy Jun into bed for the night. His hair had turned into the same flaming darkness as Hiei's, but his beautiful blue eyes were his mother's. They were the same eyes that Koko and Bri both had inherited from Marion and Gun Wa's father, in the exact same shape and color. Despite Koko's normal behavior versus Bri's, I knew that they were related.

"Jun, get into bed," Koko said. "You won't get sweet snow for breakfast!"

I smiled as Jun immediately zipped under the covers—having inherited his father's speed through genes and training. Hiei's son was truly a character. His love for sweet snow was unrivaled, except perhaps by his father. Hiei was in the living room, letting me talk to Bri's cousin alone. I think he was grateful for the reprieve from attempting to get his son to sleep.

Koko tucked Jun into the silken sheets, kissed his forehead, and led me out of the room. It amazed me at times how motherly Koko was, and even how fatherly Hiei could be. He was still his same old callous self, but he still worked as best he could to teach his boy right. I had seen the same reaction in Yomi, during the first "Election Tournament", when he was teaching Shura. Except I knew also that Jun had been conceived in love, not with any plans in mind for Demon world takeover.

Which, fortunately, had yet to come about.

I followed Koko into the kitchen, where she prepared a small pot of hot water. In one cup, she poured hot chocolate, in the other, coffee. She knew how much I hated the bitter taste of coffee. It was my least favorite plant. My favorite, after the rose, was the cacao, the bean from which chocolate was made.

But I had to be careful. Large quantities of chocolate had very…interesting effects on kitsune. I was lucky that my body wasn't entire human or kitsune, neither partling nor full blood. I was a paradox of biology, as Gun Wa Wolf loved to point out. His daughter hadn't inherited his love for the physical bodies of life.

Koko sighed, sipping at the bitter coffee black. I cringed at the thought, but I was far too focused on waiting for her answer to really drink my chocolate.

"Damn it, Kurama, you just _had_ to weasel it out of her, didn't you?"

Koko slammed the coffee down on the kitchen table, sloshing the hot liquid everywhere, including on her hands and lap. She didn't flinch. Her eyes, so like and yet so unlike Bri's, were trained on mine, a scowl similar to Hiei's on her lips. Hiei threw a towel at her before standing in the window overlooking their home outside. He still had that habit.

Koko blotted at the coffee. "I'm sorry. I can't give you the answer you're looking for, and if you ask for it, I will not answer so you better damn well keep your mouth shut about it."

Calmly, I nodded. "I won't, then. But you know I will find a way to figure out who he is. I want Bri to be happy. Living the lifespan of a fox without a mate, without the same mate she had, will kill her."

Koko smiled sadly. "It will kill her even more if I'm the one to let him know."

"I understand," I sighed. "Thank you. Tell Jun I will see him soon. Hiei?"

"Hn."

"Damn it, answer him, Snowball!" Koko yelled, rubbing at her temples. "Damn tiring…"

Hiei glanced at his mate, then at me. "I will see you soon."

"Thank you, Hiei," I smiled. It was interesting, how much Hiei had been changed by Koko and yet how much he still was like himself. If Tsuki had pushed me through a portal from the past to now, I would hardly recognize him.

Wait…Tsuki?

Who was Tsuki?

…

…

…

Okay, Bri _finally_ told Kurama something. But to her own heartbreak…I cried at this chapter. I really did. T.T

Peeka-chan: So did I. I thought, well, why don't we be more interesting opening up the chapters? Hence why my totally-oblivious brother and his girlfriend appeared. Neither like or even have seen YYH. Oo Don't worry, we shan't be killin' the Kuronue. I love him too much. I was gonna let Bri actually do something to him, but I decided she would be lenient.

Kuramafan: Ohhh…Okay. And I proved yet another human fact that you can't keep a secret no matter how hard you try. That will be yet again proved later on, I think. Good, no, _great_ guess on the Yue thing—really. But it wasn't her who _organized_ the tournament. (grins) You'll just have to wait and see. I know, isn't that funny how I give out hints in my reviews? No one reads them all, so they only get bits and pieces…Lucky you. I wonder if anyone else reads the others. (looks over self) Nope, I'm not fried ugly kitten yet.

Lucifer: Oh, I could have done something normal, but why be normal when you can think of something like the Chronodom? (grins) That's what I like about writing in a world you've been writing in for a while. Things pop up that wouldn't have otherwise. Nope, Bri is going to remain the same age she is, no questions asked. The relationship will work out, though. I guarantee it. (grins)

Black Cello: I am a very, very slow beta-reader, but I offer my very, very humble services to the cause. I updated it before then, so you'll just have to wait until the fourth to read the rest. I'll prolly have about five chapters more up by then. Italy! Send me some pictures, please, I love to draw also and I'd love to see some of their architecture. I need some inspiration for buildings.

SilverDragon: Marion is no longer alive, but Ayame is. She lives in the Makai now. Bat-boy didn't get it, unfortunately. I might consider getting him back later, though…(mischievous grin)


	14. In Hot Water

Okay, guys who actually read this portion, I have to vent some. How many read the nice opening that "Amber and Matt" did for us last time? (sees many hands raised, most looking at her confusedly (sigh)) Okay, they did the disclaimer last time. I said "wouldn't it be nice if you actually found the person you were going to spend the rest of your life with?" Not a day after I put that up, guess what?

Matt and Amber broke up.

But that's not all! Okay, get this. Rose, who is Amber's mother, was the one who did all the talking to do the "break up". Amber sat there in the car, talking into her phone to another boy. Um, hello! Does anyone see what's wrong with this?

Anyway, my brother attempted suicide.

How nice, right?

Well, he's in counseling right now. I am soooo not going to do anything so utterly callous and mean to any of my boyfriends, should I get one. I mean, they were going to get married! What would have happened if they'd gotten married? Oo I don't even want to think about it.

Kurama, cakes, can you do the disclaimer for me? I have to go console a broken heart right now.

Kurama: I will, Lady Kitten. Our dear author does not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Please, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 14: In Hot Water

…Bri…

I sighed and opened my notes. We had a test at the end of the week in math, just before Christmas break, and I wanted to study for it without Kurama's help. Without him confusing me by hinting at asking my boyfriend from the past. Who, conveniently enough, was himself. I sighed, staring at the doodle-ridden pages of loose-leaf paper in my red math binder. I couldn't help it, I still drew in the margins when taking notes. Old habits die hard.

Then, on the same page as the day I'd told Kurama about my past, I saw her. Gabriel, the angel of fate, looking away from me. She no longer looked quite as clumsy as my first painting had been, but the composition, the pose, the face, the hair, everything was in place the same. I'd memorized that painting. This was the same. I turned the page, to the next day. The same drawing. It was the _same_.

Gabriel.

_Gabriel._

_**Gabriel.**_

Every page for two weeks, covered in the exact, the _exact_ same drawing, pencil stroke for stroke. Why? I always doodled without thinking. What had been in the back of my subconscious to draw Gabriel fifteen consecutive times, during the same class?

I grabbed my history notebook, my English. No…just doodles there. Just people from my class, or the empty bird's nest outside my window. It was just Kurama's class, then.

Why? What had possessed me to draw the angel of fate?

I did the one thing I could think of: I called Koko. She was in the Makai now, but Kurama had managed to tap the phones or something so that we could still contact her and the others. Nearly everyone except Kuwabara, Kurama, and me lived in the Makai now. I tapped my toes impatiently until, finally, Koko's voice came over the phone.

"This better be _damn_ good, it's two in the damn morning!" she slurred into the receiver. I winced, glancing at the clock. I'd forgotten my late-night drawing sessions had always been unbelievable, especially coupled with my even-later-night study sessions.

"Sorry, Kokomo," I said. "But…"

How was I supposed to put this? It was two in the morning, and I was calling about my repeated drawings of an angel I thought I'd only drawn once.

"Bri, what is it?" Koko's voice was softer.

"I just opened my math notebook to study, and…" I bit my lip. "I saw Gabriel there."

She hissed. "What!"

"Gabriel, the angel of—"

"I know what the hell she is!" Koko snapped. "I mean why the damn hell are you drawing her in your math notes? Aren't those doodle things like from the back of your head or whatever?"

Thank you, kami, for Koko actually listening to me. "Yes, yes, that's what I mean. Not just once, Koko. Fifteen times. Fifteen class times in a row, she's in my notes. Same pose, same strokes, everything."

"Damn."

Leave it to Koko to sum everything up into one word, and that word being "damn".

"What do you think it means? Gina said the first time I drew her that Gabriel points to fate every time someone conjures her image without meaning to…"

"Er…Bri, I'm not the person to ask about that," Koko said. "Look, er, maybe it's a coincidence?" Koko being shy about _anything_ was a bad sign.

"You know it's not."

"What do you want me to do about it, Bri? I can't do anything about it. I can't even give you solid advice, okay? Damn it…"

"What?"

"Well, I kind of burned myself a couple of weeks ago, and it was a little worse than I thought…"

"Ouch. What were you doing?"

"Er…baking cookies for Jun." I could tell she was lying, but I wasn't going to press it. It probably had something to do with Hiei. I mean, he was a half fire demon, right?

"I guess I'd better let you get back to sleep…"

"Yeah. And Bri? Listen…Don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?"

"You've done a lot of things I wouldn't do," I laughed.

"Yeah. Exactly. Bye, sis."

And she hung up.

I stared at the phone, wondering what she meant.

Just as I set the phone back on the cradle, it rang again. Perplexed at the timing, and at the late hour someone was calling me at, I picked it up again. Slowly, I said: "H-Hello?"

"Meet me at the coffee shop, Bri," came Kurama's voice. "I know you can't sleep."

I could almost hear the words. _You'll get hurt again if you don't sleep._ It was like before I'd mastered my Empathe skills again, and Kurama was asking me to shut my eyes for him. I nearly sobbed into the phone, but somehow I managed to keep my voice level.

"How did you know that?"

"Because I can't, either."

This was nothing out of the ordinary, of course. I had on several occasions called Kurama up in the middle of the night and found him awake. What surprised me was the fact that Kurama realized that connection, and was acting on it in a new way. I suddenly realized that he was asking me out.

"Okay, see you in a few," I said.

I pulled on my coat and some shoes at the door and ran to catch the trolley as it came past. I didn't realize that I was crying until a tear hit the back of my naked hand. I swiped at them bitterly. Kurama had no idea what he was doing. There was no reason to get him upset over something so trivial as my little crush on my math teacher.

I knew it was more, but he would never believe it.

I doubted it, even if I told him that he was my boyfriend from the other time. I doubted my old boyfriend. I'd had several long years, watching Koko and the others grow up from babies, watching Gun Wa begin Meikou High, watching the birds outside room A2, watching Yusuke and the gang fight their battles with my own spiritual eyes. It wasn't until I had been able to see it from a distance that I realized it.

Everything about Kurama and I had been based on trivial things, things that changed over time. I was a liability, someone to be protected. I still loved Kurama, but I knew that he did not love me the same way. It was in the way he moved now. He moved only as a friend would, the ever-polite, ever-kind, ever-shoulder-to-cry-on friend. My older, wiser best friend, the one I could come to in a pinch.

The one I loved was a shadow of my imagination. It would never have worked out, because it wasn't working out now.

I stumbled off the Nemoi trolley a few stores before the little Coffee Coffee shop that Kurama had discovered a little bit from the arcade. He loved their hot chocolate, something I hadn't counted much on. Kurama had come to love hot chocolate almost as much as he liked rainbow trout. I was always making it for him, but he still preferred Coffee Coffee's version.

I swiped at my tears again, planning to tell him it was just sleep tugging at me. He would believe that, anyone would. The only one who wouldn't have believed it was Kuronue and that's only because he could read my mind. I trudged into the Coffee Coffee shop and quickly found Kurama's red hair amidst the blue paint of the walls. I slid into the seat across from him and cocked my brow in what I hoped was a perfect imitation of his.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning."

He chuckled softly. "What brings you in here? Boy troubles?"

His fingers gently brushed at my eyes. I pulled away.

"You called and asked me."

"So I did."

The waitress brought two steaming cups of hot chocolate, then retreated into the back room of the shop. We were alone.

"Bri, may I ask something?"

"Sure. Don't expect an answer, though."

Kurama smiled. "Diplomatic, as always."

"Yeah, I guess." I sighed. "What's the question?"

"Why don't you want to see your boyfriend again?"

"I already told you, his past form almost murd—"

"I will not accept that answer from you, Bri," he said calmly. So damn calmly. I need to stop hanging out with Koko. "I know there is more here than you want to reveal."

I winced. He was right.

"Okay, fine. I…The love that we had seems…shallow now. It seems like we were caught in the moment, instead of fully in love. Like if we were separated for a while, we wouldn't feel the same when we came back together again."

Kurama closed his eyes, sipping his hot chocolate. Had I not known him, I would have thought he was being rude. But I knew that he was thinking hard about what I'd said, and he would have another question to ask.

"Is this 'shallow love', as you call it, still the way that you feel, Bridget?"

I hated when he called me that. He knew that it made me think, and almost always I had a headache later. I sipped at my own hot chocolate, letting the velvety foam marshmallows caress my tongue. I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I still felt the same. In fact, it was far greater now than I had ever felt before.

Now that I knew, _really_ knew, what love was.

"I am more in love with him now than I was before," I admitted softly.

"Then why?"

"I don't know what he'll think. And if he rejects me, which is highly possible, I will not be able to take it."

"But what if he says yes?"

I smiled sadly, letting a tear fall. "I will wait for him to make that decision. Because if I do anything, everything will fall to pieces around me."

He said nothing, only sipped at his hot chocolate. It was cold now, just like mine. I still couldn't stop sipping, just letting his companionable silence envelope us both. In all the years I'd been the sister to Kuronue, I had become used to noise, and could barely function without it. Now, however, all I wanted was the silence that Kurama offered. It was the silence of hope.

Hope that maybe, he'd take the hint.

I didn't want to be bothered to ask the man who had been my boyfriend again. I wanted Kurama to come to me. Only then would I know that everything was all right.

…

…Koko…

Christmas at last. I used to hate Christmastime, because Tsuki hated the holiday. I used to stare at all the gifts, at all the other kids with their new toys and wish that I had a mother or a father like theirs. Gun Wa was never around at Christmas, always in Japan. But he did always send me some new Japanese toys. Never actually came home.

But that was in the past that never was, and now I was with a family that cared about me. My father was here with me, and we'd never gotten out of contact. I had rejoined my mother once Hiei and I moved to the Makai. I wished that she came over more often, or I had more time to visit her. As it was, we rarely saw each other.

But she still came home for the holidays, including the obscure American holiday of Thanksgiving that Hiei continually said was "pointless". It was Jun's favorite holiday, just before Christmas and Halloween. We took him to Human World for that.

We had gathered at Yusuke's "house" for the party, including everyone from Human World. This was my dad's first trip here, as well as Gina's and Gunner's. Bri and Kuronue even brought their mother with them, to her protest. The huge banquet hall that Yusuke usually held community meetings in had been decorated with all the usual Christmas things. A pine tree that Hiei and Kurama had found was decorated head to foot in candy canes, baubles, and lights. Yume and Jun were fighting over who would eat one first after the presents were opened.

Let me mention right now, I think that room was hardly big enough for the people, let alone the number of presents that had ended up under that tree. All the same, everyone was in a pleasant mood. Hiei had even said "hello" to Kuwabara. I looked around for Yukina and spotted her on the other side of the room, talking to Gina and Aunt Gunner. I often wondered why Gina and Aunt Gunner had never gotten married. They were obviously in love themselves.

"Your friends certainly have a way of celebrating," my mother chuckled softly. "Jun is growing up so quickly."

"Yeah. Just yesterday, I was ordering Hiei to change his diapers," I said. Mother laughed and offered me a one-armed hug. "Kokomo, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were my age."

I cringed inwardly. With two completely different "childhoods" in my memory, I _was_ a little closer to being her age. I laughed it off and glanced round the room again. Yume stopped arguing with Jun only to glance directly at me, then at her father. I watched, curious, as the young raven-haired girl ran into her father's arms.

"Hey, you guys!" Yusuke yelled at the top of his lungs after a moment. The room fell silent. "Are we going to open presents or are we all gonna stand here gawking at the tree!"

The room literally shook with laughter. A moment of silence and then…

Pandemonium.

I won't bore you with a list of what I received from each person, but I will tell you that Yume and Jun each got a candy cane before Keiko and I confiscated the rest from the tree. I think the biggest thing about this Christmas was the simple fact that we all could be together, without worrying about anything.

Well, except for Bri.

But you knew that.

She ended up getting Kurama a custom watch, engraved with a rose, and a painting that she'd done a little while ago of him in both his Youko and his human form. I didn't find out until after the party what she'd received from him. She was, of course, panicking. Bri had become so paranoid, it was almost pathetic now.

"It's a damn bracelet with a damn cat on it, Bri, it's no secret that you like cats!"

"But I only told him in passing that I did!"

"You _also_ told him that you were a quarter cat already."

She stopped short, her eyes wide. "I did?"

I sighed in exasperation. "_Yes_, Bri, you've _told _him you were a partling cat. How else would you have destroyed Tsuki? _Think_ for a second, idiot."

She scowled. "I'm _not_ an idiot."

"You are from where I'm standing."

I was standing in a knee-high pile of Christmas wrappings, which we were cleaning up with the help of Keiko, Gina, and Kuronue. I'd explained to everyone already about our dealings with the past. Plus, there were a few _helpers _who were trying to get Bri and Kurama back together. I couldn't help, though. Some stupid rules that I hadn't paid attention to. Again.

Bri threw a pile of Christmas bows—all green—into the black trash bag she was holding. It was almost poetic. The bows were all the same color as Kurama's eyes, and she was throwing them into that black oblivion. But if she'd only stop and look, she'd see for herself that Kurama's feelings were the same as hers.

Why is everyone around me so damn blind?

Oh, yeah.

Love.

That's why I thought I hated Snowball before I mated with him.

"Kokomo," Bri said calmly, tying the bag viciously. "I cannot fall for Kurama again. I made myself far younger than him on purpose. You know it."

The resolved look in her blue eyes told all.

She was twice as against getting back together with Kurama than she was before.

"Bri, Okuro." Aunt Ichigo had come through the door, her face a pale, sickly gray. Her illusion was failing, her ears and tails flickering in and out. I dropped my trash bag. Kurama was holding her up.

"I think she caught a flu," Kurama said quietly. Bri was already at her mother's side, all thoughts of telling me off about Kurama gone. Kuronue wasn't far behind. Ichigo was the only one among us who didn't know the full story of her children. It seemed almost wrong, but Bri had stood firmly against telling their mother anything. Protection, or so she said.

"Mother?" Bri asked.

"Take me home, I'll be fine," Aunt Ichigo said, smiling. It always amazed me how she could smile through anything. "Bri, you stay here with your cousin. Okuro can take me home."

"A-Are you sure, mother?" Bri asked. She held her mothers arm delicately, like one might hold rice paper, or a small child.

"Yes, Bridget, I'll be fine."

Kuronue led her toward the door, but she collapsed before they made it. He glanced over his shoulder in sheer terror. "She isn't breathing!"

…

…

…

TT I had to do this one, too. God, I'm just obsessed with death, aren't I? Okay, and the Coffee Coffee thing is actually a scene I snitched from the story Bri Wolf is actually supposed to be the character in. She _loves_ hot chocolate. It borders on obsession. And who are the "helpers" that Koko has managed to slip up to us?

I tell you what, Kurama and Bri are the only ones who don't know. I'm weird.

Hey, I've got a question for ya'll. Anyone want to help me come up with the prank for Kuronue, Kurama, and Yomi (you'll see)?

Princess Kandra: Well, cakes, they end up basically just not caring, really. I'll just say that. But, you shall soon see more! Um…I shan't explain any more.

Sillylittlenothing: Oh, yes, we shall soon rectify that situation. But there is the matter of the tournament…Hmm. What will that journey reveal? (evil grin)

Peeka-chan: What kind of prank did you have in mind? (grin) We shall also be getting Kurama back for instigating it, and we'll be getting back at Yomi for something later on, too. Have anything in mind? I'm drawing blanks. T.T

Kohari: Everyone is blinded by love, unfortunately. Even Kurama-kun. But he shall see, oh, yes, he shall see…(evil grin)

SilverDragon: Well, Kurama won't let a sleeping kitten sprawl for long. In fact, he's still poking at her. I like the next chapter, though. It spawned the fan art.

Kuramafan: I'm glad I'm not fried, too. Irony is the spice of life, and I'm afraid I've gotten too much of the chili pepper type. You know I've already written the chapter where Kurama finally finds out all, but did you also know I've written all but the last chapter? Heh, I'm almost done. Just need to write one more…

Lucifer: Kurama is quite the weasel now, isn't he? I got the idea that he's a "weasel info out" kind of person from the episode where he's talking to the parasite demon hidden in Kokoda, his little stepbrother. He tells the demon that he doesn't have to kill him to make him beg for Kurama to take its life. He has "methods". So, I figured he was probably a good interrogator.

Black Cello: (sweatdrop) Better the second time? I don't think so, really…I used to slide on hardwood floors in my tights when I was little. I loved doing that, and body surfing in the ocean on top of my brother's back. He was younger than me. Aren't I cruel? I actually got the idea for this situation from the manga of CardCaptor Sakura. Syaoran wanted Sakura to be happy and offered to help her get Yukito…and a buncha other things, too. I don't remember it all. It's probably not as similar as I thought. Bring back pictures! Me want to see!


	15. Itsumo no Hitomi

Since this is a shorter chapter, I decided to go ahead and upload it a little earlier than usual. I've finished the story, but I decided to rewrite some because it's a bit on the long side now. . 

Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue, so we're good, right?

Chapter 15: Itsumo

…Kurama…

I had seen Bri through the death of Marion, and now I saw her through the death of Ichigo. She stared, unmoving, at her mother's coffin, at the picture of her mother setting atop it. I doubt she even realized she was crying. The bracelet that I'd given her—I'd had a dealer in the Makai carefully craft it into a kitten and a fox, encircling a rose and a bluebell. I don't know why I'd had it made—I just did. I glanced down at the watch that she had also had custom-made. Koko had told me that it was.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. Bri didn't move, only sat there and stared and cried. I knelt beside her placing one arm around her shoulder. _Now_ she moved. She flung herself around my chest, her smaller fingers clenching the material of my shirt. Her silent tears turned to soft sobs. I petted her hair, as I'd done many times before when Yue was doing something. But this wasn't about Yue.

Not this time.

Gun Wa knelt at her other side and pressed a gentle hand on her shivering shoulders. She glanced at him through tear-streaked eyes, questioning. Softly, as though afraid to bring the wrath of gods down on him, he spoke.

"Bridget, your mother left Kuronue and yourself in my care until you've finished high school," he said. "Do you wish to stay in this house?"

I knew the questions had to be asked, but why now? She was still grieving for her mother, there was no reason to ask such things at this point. I was about to say so, when her voice spoke hoarsely.

"I'll stay here. Thank you, Uncle."

Gun Wa nodded once, then retreated. Bri glanced up at me, then down again.

"Let's go somewhere else," she whispered. "Anywhere else…"

She released my shirt, smoothing the material once or twice. My muscles jumped at the touch, but I resisted their charm. This was no time for my body to react in such a way.

"To my apartment," I said. I offered my hand and she took it—gladly, by the small smile on her face. We walked out of the wake and into the cold winter's night. It was nearing midnight of Christmas Day. Even Nemoi's trolley wasn't running, and the trains were limited. Snow drifted from the sky, as though trying to match each of Bri's tears.

I don't recall ever getting to my apartment. But when we arrived, Bri was barely walking, so weary from crying and from the late hour. I picked her up at the door of my apartment, pressed her shivering body close to warm her. She nestled into my shoulder like she had when she was a child. I set her on the couch and went to the kitchen to make us some hot chocolate. Just before I reached the doorway into the kitchen, Bri spoke.

"Don't."

"You don't want hot chocolate?" I asked, an amused smile crossing my face. Bri shook her head no and hugged her knees to her chest. She was in her school uniform, though why, I don't know. School wasn't until tomorrow. Her tears still hadn't stopped and I contemplated making the hot chocolate anyway just for the sake of getting liquid into her again. In the end, I respected her wishes.

I retrieved a blue blanket from the closet and offered it to her. I was going to go get another for myself when she tugged my arm back. Those eyes will be the end of me if she doesn't stop staring at me with them.

"Share," she grunted, sounding a little like Hiei. I sat on the couch beside her and she pulled the blanket around herself and around my shoulders. Within seconds, she was curled up like a small child against my chest. Her eyes stared up at mine.

"Why do people have to die?" she asked quietly. "Why can't the good people live forever? Couldn't King Yama do even that?"

"There's no fine line between those who are good and those who are evil, Bri," I said, letting my right arm hug her shoulder. Tonight. Just tonight, I would hold her, comfort her as a friend. I was her friend. I would remain nothing more, nothing more because she already knew a lover. "People die because it is fate."

"Gabriel killed them?" Bri blinked and stared at the blank black screen of my television set, not seeing.

"In a way, yes," I said. "She is the angel of fate. She decides when people will die. But she did not directly kill Marion or Ichigo, Bri. It is merely her duty to decide fate. It must be a difficult duty."

"Yeah…Must be." Bri rubbed her cheek softly against the golden material of my shirt, the one I'd chosen to wear to Ichigo's wake. Bri murmured something softly, so softly I almost didn't hear. "You smell nice."

I didn't know what to say, and it sounded as though she wasn't expecting an answer, so I remained silent. After a few moments of soothing silence, Bri was breathing deeply, fast asleep in my arms. I smiled down at her, glad that we were alone, and she was oblivious to the world. I brushed my lips atop her head as her illusion fell. Her golden fox ears and her single tail twitched in her sleep.

I let one cheek lean against her ear and sighed. The ear twitched violently against the wind, freeing itself. "I love you, Bri…" I'm not sure if I really said it or not. I fell asleep like that, holding Bri in one arm, the other holding myself up.

When I woke at six the next morning, I lifted her still-sleeping form and traveled back to Nemoi with her in my arms like a child. Kuronue greeted me at the door, with her backpack ready. In silence, we went to Meikou High School. I woke Bri at the door, to her sleepy surprise.

"W-Where…what…?"

"Kuronue thought it best if we let you sleep a while longer," I explained. "You know you can't miss school. Gun Wa will think something happened to you."

"And then you'll be in trouble," she said, grinning. I was glad to see her smile again. "I'll see ya in class, Minamino-Sensei."

I was even more happy to hear the mocking tone that made her so Bri.

…

Several months passed. We trained especially hard, Kuronue, Bri, and I, in the Chronodom, passing years of training in a few month's time. Bri never spoke of the night in my apartment, but I noticed that she always wore the bracelet. I almost never took off her watch, but I knew it was futile to hope for her love to be returned. Fall break came upon us once again. Bri, Kuronue, and I spent the last weekend before then in the Chronodom, training nonstop.

"We need to do something fun before we leave for the tournament," Bri said a few hours before we needed to gather in Koenma's office for further instruction. "To break away from training. We're as strong as we're gonna be, might as well have some fun before we die, right?"

I'm sure she was joking about the "death" part.

"Sure, why not?" Kuronue shrugged.

"Stay here. I'm going to get it ready," Bri smiled mysteriously. She stepped into the other room where our training area usually was. After a few moments, her head poked out the door, both fox ears alert. I could see her tail twitching in excitement. "Come on in to DDR paradise!"

In the corner of the room was an unmarked machine. I recognized it only because of the demon language printed on the three pads in front of it. It was the demon's version of the human game DDR.

Where had Bri seen this machine?

Yet I knew that it had been _me_ who introduced her to it. But that wasn't right. I had never shown her such a thing. I stared at it, perplexed. She smiled over her shoulder, taking the right pad.

"Are you guys just gonna stand and gawk or am I gonna kick your asses without even trying?"

I stepped on the middle pad, Kuronue taking the final one on the left. Bri chose the first song without even letting the machine finish speaking. On level twenty-seven. The last time I'd played this, I was barely level thirty. I recognized the song instantly. _Itsumo no Hitomi_. For some reason, I couldn't help but think: _This is our song._

Can't seem to understand 

_What I'm fighting for_

_My lover's arms are closing_

_Can't breathe anymore_

_Is this what love is_

_Or is there something missing_

_In his Forever Eyes_

_In his kissing_

_Forever Eyes…_

Bri was getting every step, every time, perfectly. How could she? Kuronue was having a little trouble, but I was almost keeping up with Bri. Even so, she still beat us both hands down, tail wagging, and ears standing at attention.

"I won, I won!" She sang out, taunting us. She gave a kittenish grin. "Come on, guys, I know you've played this before."

"The question I have is how _you've_ played before," I said, searching for another song.

"In the other life, my boyfriend showed it to me," she said. She offered nothing more. "I loved that song so much. It was the first one we played together."

But I was sure…I was the one who showed it to her…

Was it _me_?

"It was my first, as well," I said. Of course it wasn't me she was talking about. "When I was growing up. Of course, I started at level two, not twenty-seven."

Bri grinned. "Well, I was actually at level thirty-eight when I died in the other time stream, but I'm a little rusty. Come on. We need to get to Koenma's."

Kuronue and I followed her out of the Chronodom and we walked to Koenma's office. I could feel the others inside. They had trained well. Bri pushed her way into the room, where Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei were waiting for us. The others were at Yusuke's, awaiting the location of the tournament.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I'll get started," Koenma said. "In the last letter we received from The Moon, she stated that we would receive the letter with the coordinates today at six o'clock. It's only a minute till now and—"

"Koenma sir, the letter's come!" George the ogre barreled into the room carrying the white envelope. He handed Koenma the letter and slunk out of the room at Koenma's annoyed glare.

"All right," Koenma said. "I'll read this aloud…"

Dear Lord Koenma, 

I am pleased to announce the location of the tournament will be in the following coordinates of Human World. As I've stated before, all of your team members must arrive at seven o'clock tomorrow morning with everything they will need for a week-long stay. I have a hotel standing by for all who are attending. I think you will be surprised who comes to my little tournament.

_Lord Koenma, please explain to your team that I am not to be harmed in any way before, during, or after the tournament. Should I be injured, you will all be immediately disqualified and murdered. Is that quite clear, Lord Koenma?_

"Er…and the rest is just the coordinates," Koenma said, blinking.

"Insuring herself from harm. A wise move," I said.

"Why's that?" Yusuke asked. "She could just be bluffing."

"No. This person, whoever she is, had assistance in gaining the attention she needed to make this tournament a success," Koenma said. "It is already all over Demon World and Human World, at least among the demons. She has also made requests to allow certain demons into Human World for the tournament. More threats if I don't."

"Who, exactly?" I asked.

"Yomi and Mukuro, for instance," Koenma said. "And quite a few more. Cat demons and a tiger, some of the crow demon clan." He glanced at Bri meaningfully. She merely gave a small, miniscule nod. "Anyway, be back here tomorrow. We leave for the coordinates at six thirty."

…

…

…

Thanks for all the great advise about my brother, guys. He's in counseling now, and he's doing a lot better. I think he's realized that no one's heart is worth suicide. I'm not very close to my brother, but I do love him a lot. I hope that he'll realize he doesn't need a girl in his life to make him complete, just like I don't need a man.

Okay! What do you guys think about think about this sudden turn of events? Why the heck did Bri do that! It's like she's unconsciously trying to nudge at Kurama, eh? I don't think that was her intent, but it's definitely giving Kurama more of that weird déjà vu. And he's finally starting to connect the things. But it'll be a while before he acts on it—after the tournament.

Kuramafan: Thanks for all the great advise, my brother's doing great. I have Evanescence, he's been listening to that and this country group, Lonestar, nonstop. Plus, 96.3, our local hip hop station. ()

Kohari: Will do, cakes! Um…I think Bri's going to want to play the prank on all three of them…but I just got something in mind, inspired by what Bri said earlier about Kuronue and Kuwabara…Hmm…Now how to execute it…

Peeka-chan: O.O Great minds think alike, I guess. Amber will get what she's got coming, I think. I hope. I'm not very good at this whole revenge thing. () OH! I've got what I'm gonna do to Kuronue…Now just to get Kurama and Yomi…I think Yomi would actually enjoy that sort of thing. (After Kurama, Yomi is my favorite bishi. I know, I'm weird.) I was thinking of using Bri's illusion powers…hmm…or just letting Karasu in Kurama's bed for a while before letting the fox kill him…


	16. Pieces of the Past

UK: And now, introducing Bri and Kurama in their rendition of _Disease_ by Matchbox 20!

Bri: Feels like you made a mistake 

_You made somebody's heart break_

_But now I have to let you go_

_I have to let you go_

_You left a stain_

_On every one of my good days_

_But I am stronger than you know_

_I have to let you go_

Kurama:

_No one's ever turned you over_

_No one's tried to ever let you down_

_Beautiful girl_

_Bless your heart_

Together:

_I got a disease_

_Deep inside me_

_Makes me feel uneasy_

_Baby, I can't live without you_

_What am I supposed to do about it?_

Bri and Kurama: bow Thank you, thank you!

UK: Say hello to the inspiration for this entire story, guys. I know, weird, huh? And I never actually mentioned that…

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Matchbox 20.

Chapter 16: Pieces of the Past

…Bri…

The six of us stood on the wooden planks of the dock, staring at a very unfamiliar-but-familiar sight. At least, to me, it was. The rocky mountains that made the name for this place hung like the gallows. Hanging Neck Island. The location of the annual Dark Tournament. Had we really been swindled into the Dark Tournament instead? Kurama and Kuronue, Yusuke and Kuwabara, they all towered over me. Only Hiei was shorter than I was, and not by much. The others were coming on a different boat.

"Does anyone else find it ironic that The Moon found Hanging Neck for her own tournament?" Yusuke asked, glaring at the posh hotel immediately before us.

"I didn't know you knew the word 'ironic' in the first place," I said idly.

I saw many other demons approaching the hotel from just about every direction. Some were coming by sea, others by portal (courtesy of Koenma), and more were landing on an airstrip somewhere on the other side of the mountains. I had never met any of them directly, but I recognized some. Like Jin, Touya, and Rinku. I'd watched the Dark Tournament with my spiritual eyes. I'd had little else to do, you know.

I wished Kurama could kill Karasu all over again.

"Kurama, it's been a time since your last visit," said a voice from behind. I knew that voice, though I knew I shouldn't. It was Yomi. Kurama turned round and faced the former king.

"Yes, it has," Kurama answered. Yomi was blind, that I knew. I stared hard at him, trying to figure out how he'd become the king he once was, how he became as strong as he was. I could sense his power—much greater than mine, but not much more than Kurama's. I bet Yusuke could beat him, though.

"Who are the new additions to your team, Kurama?" I blinked in surprise. How had he known I was here? How had he known I was new?

"I've told you about Bri and Kuronue before, but this is the first time you've met them," Kurama said. His voice was so even, smooth. "Bri, Kuronue, this is Yomi."

"How do you do?" I asked, being polite. No reason to be impolite yet.

Yomi smiled, and it seemed as though he were looking right at me. I shivered despite myself. Yomi smiled wider, though I couldn't tell if he had sensed my discomfort or not.

"I am well," he said. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the girl who has garnered so much attention from my old partner. I'm glad to finally meet you again, Kuronue. It's been too long."

_Not long enough_, Kuronue said in my mind. It had been a while since he'd last spoken through our link. _I never liked Yomi back when he was still Youko's second._

_Don't judge so quickly. You never know. A thousand years can change a person._

_Yeah. So can just one._

I smiled at Kuronue, making it seem as though I were smiling at Yomi for his compliment. Yomi nodded once and placed a hand on my shoulder. He didn't even miss a sinew.

"How do you do that?" I blurted.

Yomi chuckled. "You know as well as I that demons have heightened senses. They are far more heightened when one is out of commission, Bri Wolf."

It made sense, but for some reason, I didn't like how playful his voice sounded. It was like he was hinting at something and I didn't get what it was. Yomi brushed past us all, throwing a wave over his shoulder.

"See you in the ring."

And he was gone.

"Weird," I said. "Was he always like that?"

"Yes and no," Kurama said. "Yomi is a complex person. I think more even than I am."

"I doubt that," Kuronue said dryly. He obviously was still untrusting in the older demon.

"Come on, let's get inside and get settled into our rooms," Yusuke said. "Our first match is today, isn't it?"

"Yes. And we may just find out who The Moon really is," Kurama said.

We stepped into the lobby of the hotel. It was covered in velvet and light, in precious stones and bell hops that were annoyingly pleasant. I declined letting one carry my suitcase or my book bag. No reason to have to pay some idiot to do what I could do myself better.

Our rooms were on the twenty-second floor. Kuronue, Kurama, and I had a two-room suite so that I could have a room to myself, being the only girl. The others were down the hall, but I still wanted to be with my teammates. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei had the other room. I set my things on the simple hotel bed and stared at the artwork over the desk. It was of Tokyo at night, with only the yellow lights of buildings and the full moon painted over total blackness. It looked familiar.

When I read the signature, I knew why.

It was mine.

I knew mother had sold several of my paintings, with my permission, to help support the family. I had no idea that one of those had arrived at a hotel on Hanging Neck Island, of all places. I stared at my signature for a moment more before throwing open my suitcase for a change of clothes. A simple pair of loose-fitting jeans and a blue t-shirt. That was my fighting outfit. I checked my pockets for the plants that I'd begun using at Kurama's insistence. He claimed that plants were easier to manipulate than my fire, and he, as always, was right. I used my fire for power fights.

I joined Kurama and Kuronue in the "living room" part of the suite. Kuronue had the same outfit as I, but Kurama had opted for his Chinese outfits once again, but the hangin part was short. At least it didn't look like a dress again. He looked good in red.

"A tram's here to take us to the stadium for the first rounds," Yusuke said. Hiei and Kuwabara were silent, which was strange for Kuwabara. "The others are already in the audience. Botan was here."

I stretched one arm over my head and sighed. "Let's get it over with."

The "tram" turned out to look very much like Nemoi's "infamous" trolley. I squeezed into the open-air wooden seat between Kurama and Kuronue and watched as woods parted on either side of the old dirt road. I think I would rather have walked than be thrown into Kurama and Kuronue at every little pothole and bump. I checked to make sure my bracelet was still on as we neared the stadium. I noticed with a thrill and a self-scold that Kurama had his watch on, too. It was simple silver, but I'd asked for a nine-tailed fox to be carved into the band.

A lizard-like demon escorted us from the tram into what looked like a normal high school gym locker room. Complete with benches and purple lockers and graffiti that said "Death" and "Marvin Luvs Gwen". Since we were already dressed, I sat down on one of the benches and stared at the door that would take us into the stadium.

"They've painted the lockers," Yusuke said, grinning. "Otherwise, same old place."

"Yeah," Kuwabara said shortly.

"You okay?" I asked. "You've been acting weird since we got here."

"I've got a funny feeling about this tournament thing," Kuwabara said. He rubbed at his arms as if it were cold. I knew better. Aside from the fact that it was practically sweltering in the locker room, Kuwabara always rubbed his arms when he had a bad sixth sense feeling.

"What kind of feeling?" Yusuke asked, for a minute returning to his younger, cocky self once again. "You chickening out?"

"No! That's not it." Kuwabara shook his head, almost ignoring the direct threat to his "manly pride". "It's one of those weird premonition things. I don't think that this 'The Moon' person really wants anyone hurt. I don't think this is like the Dark Tournament."

"What do you mean?"

"Competitors, please come out on the field!" came a muffled voice into the locker room.

"I guess we'll find out later," Yusuke said. "We're up."

…

…Bri…

I knew as I walked out onto the field that I was at an extreme disadvantage here. The stadium was simple: a round concrete center, grass surrounding that, and thousands of people watching surrounding that. I gulped at a large, rock-like knot in my throat. I hated people watching me do anything. Now I had to fight with thousands watching. I felt a hand on my shoulder and glanced up at Kurama's hairline. Kuronue grinned from the other side of him.

Don't worry so much, little sis. You won't have to focus on the crowd for long.

_Easy for you to say, bat-boy._

"Everything will be fine," Kurama said, bringing my attention back to him. He didn't remove his hand until our attention turned to the announcer. I recognized her easily as the cat demon Koto. The Moon had gone all out.

"Welcome to the Tournament of Trials!" Koto shouted. "Although this tournament was a bit unscheduled, I, your commentator, cannot _wait_ for the matches to begin! Of course, it's not going to be the total bloodbath that some of you might be expecting, to my disappointment."

The crowd roared in sudden confusion. Some of the competitors cried out, too, but all of our team remained silent. I had the feeling that no one had expected this sudden turn of events.

"And now, I'd like to introduce the three organizers of this event," Koto shouted. Three figures appeared behind her, all dressed in black cloaks that hid their faces. Two were obviously women, both tall and thin, the last being a rather overweight man. His potbelly made the front of his cloak rise to reveal a pair of old-style sandles that I rarely saw anymore. Maybe on a temple priest? I think Genkai owned a pair.

One of the women stepped forward and took the mike from Koto.

"I am The Moon, the main committee member for the Tournament of Trials. It was I who forced, swindled, invited, or otherwise made you be here this week. It is not in the desire of any of those present that you should die. In fact, should we catch _any_ of you dead, for whatever reason, it will be in the committee's best interest to take over the three worlds without the say of the tournament's end."

She shifted the mike to her other hand, obviously intent on continuing. However, the other woman took it from her before she could continue. I could almost sense the childish pout that crossed her face, though I couldn't even see her chin or nose.

"My name is The Star, and I am the pleased to announce that the tournament will be held in a very simple manner. The Sky, if you will please produce the chart on the screen."

The potbellied, cloaked man only nodded and pressed a button on Koto's commentating station. On the enormous screen over the field was list of skills, games, and other assorted odd things that I definitely didn't think would be in a tournament.

"This Tournament of Trials is so named because it tests a variety of skills. The three of us will determine the score, as judges. The categories are: Physical, Mental, Talent, and Team. As Physical suggests, this category is for what you've all trained for. The fights, which will be gauged on skill in battle, not whether you defeat your opponent or not. However, the rule still applies that you must not kill your opponents. Is that understood?"

I think about a hundred or so demons nodded at the exact same time.

The Star gestured to The Sky and the screen changed again. Now, it showed a list of the competitors in the stadium and what number their team leader (Yusuke for us) had drawn for them. My number was seventeen. How lucky for me. There were a hundred two fighters in all, in teams of six. I recognized some, others I didn't. I didn't really pay much attention at that time.

Most of the rounds, I found out, would be dealt with individually. Only the Team category would be dealt with as a team, though what we'd do there was a mystery. The team with the most points would be the winners.

The team leaders (seventeen in all) were each called up to the front. Each were given a simple white envelope. These told each team member against which three fighters they would need to prove themselves against.

That's when I got my first huge shock.

Matsu.

Matsu, the demon, the one who had joined forces with Une and Karasu for my blood in the other time stream. The one who'd once been my math teacher at Meikou. I had forgotten that he would still be alive in this time stream. I stared as he came to the front to collect his envelope. He would be mostly innocent of the crimes he'd committed in the other time stream, and yet I couldn't help myself. It was like staring at a mass murderer who had been set free by parole. It may just have been, too.

I could catch no one's eye to question this odd coincidence, because Koko was in the stands. Hiei would never actually consider this at all, even though it had been him, initially, who had killed Matsu in the other time stream. I only could only stare, not listening as the other sixteen were called to the front for their envelopes. So caught up in watching my would-be torturer, I didn't hear Yusuke tell me my battles. Kuronue bopped me lightly over the head to catch my attention.

"What, you see a cute guy or something?" Yusuke asked, smirking.

"No!" I protested. "I saw someone I know…"

"A lot of those," Kuwabara agreed, glancing around the haphazard crowd. "I mean, there's the others we know from the Dark Tournament, and plus Yomi, Mukuro, and Urameshi's monks."

"They aren't mine! They just won't leave me the hell alone!" Yusuke yelled. "Anyway, the guys you'll be fighting are Boku, Toki, and Buck." He showed me pictures of the three guys.

I nearly lost it right there.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me!"

"What, they friends of yours?" Yusuke blinked.

I muttered hotly, "Could say that…"

"I know who Buck is," Kuronue laughed. "It's that stupid rock demon you fought when we were seven!"

"Yeah, and I _thought_ you said he couldn't come back for another hundred years!" I more than "bopped" my brother over the head. He was a little out of commission for a while.

"But what of the other two?" Kurama asked in his calm, quiet way that I was finding more and more annoying when things pertained to my past.

The others fell silent. I growled, unable to really find much to explain.

"You remember how Koko explained to the rest of ya'll that I had a hand in destroying the other time stream? Well, it was those two who 'helped' me, I guess you'd put it like that. Long story." Kurama kept silent about the fact that it had been me, eventually, who told him about this past of mine.

"We have some time before the first match," Yusuke said. "Plenty time for a long story."

So, I told them.

…Flashback…

_I remember best what I told my boyfriend. I can't recall my exact words, but I told him something to the effect that if I could allow him to live with my death, I would do it. I told him this with a kiss to his dying lips and I glared at the central cause of his death. It was my own mother, Tsuki. I remembered how ironic it seemed that my fiancé was murdered by his future mother-in-law._

_Being a quarter cat demon, I had one sure-fire way of "killing" Tsuki. I cut a hole in the time stream and jumped through. I found the month cycle of Tsuki's father's demon clan easily. I was almost too late, as I had to find Tsuki's human mother first. I found them in a clearing very near where I'd come out of Tsuki's original portal. I dove in front of her, glaring into the slit eyes that Tsuki would inherit._

"_Human, get back to your own world." I snarled at her, trying to appear as menacing as possible. I hit her with a wave of my Empathe powers, enough to give her a headache. She vanished into the portal that had somehow dropped her here. I was barely able to turn round to the cat demon who would be my grandfather when he tackled me to the ground, his pupils completely overpowering his irises now._

_I let him take me, mate with me. I knew, even though I had few of the actual cat demon instincts, that Tsuki herself was beginning to grow in my womb. I was sick at the thought. I knew I had to do something. Anything._

"_What's your name?" I asked him after a few weeks of not being able to leave his side for longer than twenty minutes. I'd never even found that out, although he continued to mate with me at times._

"_Neko Toki," he grunted. "You?"_

"_Bridget. Just Bridget." _

_That night, I left._

_I fought against the weak bonds that the cat demon Toki had forged with me. I found a tiger demon that had stumbled onto the lands near the cat demon village. He had silvery fur and a pair of cuffs over his claws. I led him away to a river, still fighting the bonds of my mating with Toki._

"_I'm Bri," I said to him._

"_Boku," he said. _

"_Listen, Boku. If I take these cuffs off you, you owe me something. Right?"_

"_Right…" He said uncertainly. He wasn't stupid or anything, just confused. Why would I, a girl who appeared to be fighting with herself, offer something to a tiger? I could see the question in his eyes. _

"_I want you to eat me."  
_

_He stared. "Are you sure?"_

"_Yes. Knock me out and eat me."_

_More staring. "Sure?"  
_

"_Boku, I'm more sure than I've ever been in my life. I want you to eat me."_

_I freed him and he, in turn, freed me of my life._

…End Flashback…

"Think they'll still recognize you?" Yusuke asked.

"Yeah, they'll have a heart attack, don't you think? One loses his mate and the other sees someone he ate," Kuwabara said. He looked a little green at the thought. I hadn't even told Koko the exact extent of my "death".

"Boku is the least of my worries," I said dryly. "But Toki might try and take me back."

"We will not allow it," Kurama said calmly.

"What do you propose we do?" I asked. "I could sense it from the field. Toki is by far stronger than I am."

"He is not as strong as I," Kurama said. "Nor Kuronue or Hiei, or even Kuwabara. Let alone Yusuke."

"No one touches my sister." Kuronue agreed, nodding as if he were a Buddhist priest praying over a corpse. "He who does dies a painful death."

Hiei glared at everyone, myself included. Even after all these years of me being his godchild, he still glared. He remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"You've forgotten already that you are a kitsune?"

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Oh, yeah," Kuronue said. "You can just cast an illusion over their eyes!"

"And neither of them really know my name, either…" I sighed. "Even so, I know them both well enough to know that they will not hesitate to kill. I doubt they care who rules over the worlds at all. They aren't smart enough to contemplate that."

"Good to know how much esteem you held your past mate," Kurama said wryly.

"I was raped into it, like I really would care about him," I growled. "Toki was and probably still is an idiot. It's a wonder he's survived so long."

A knock came at the door.

"Team Urameshi, fighter seventeen is requested on the field for her first match."

I sighed and stood, letting my illusion fall again before restructuring it for two specific pairs of eyes. Kurama had taught Kuronue and I how to target illusions toward certain creatures during our training. I altered the appearance I would have quite a bit and sent the illusion to Kurama.

"Think it'll work?" I asked.

He chuckled softly. "I doubt they will even take you seriously, Bri."

"Thanks. I thought so, too."

I'd fashioned myself into an old woman with sagging cheeks, still the shadow of my young self. Boku, the tiger who'd eaten me, and my first match, wouldn't know what hit him. I let the illusion drop for Kurama and headed out the door. After years of fighting alongside my brother, and only one year of training with Kurama and Kuronue, I knew I wasn't ready for the true battlefield that Boku and Toki had lived on for hundreds of years. I couldn't count on either the tiger nor the cat to fight fairly.

So I could only depend on what little in the way of power that I had.

I stood in the doorway, waiting for Koto to announce me. When she did, a crack of light spilled into the dark hall and I was at once alone. I held my head high and shoved both hands into my pockets. If this crowd wanted a show, that's exactly what I was gonna give them. With my dignity intact, of course.

The roar of the stadium rocked my feet, nearly bowled me over back into the door. I stood my ground and stared at all the little dots that made the people. I wouldn't have been able to spot Koko, Gina, Gun Wa, or anyone else in this mess. There were just too many people. I stepped up onto the concrete floor, where Koto was waiting with her microphone.

There, standing as if he were going to get kicked out for saying something he shouldn't have, was Boku. He had golden fur, crisped with black and silver streaks. An obvious sign of age for tigers, as I recalled that he'd only been silver when I first met him. Both his ears were turned back flat against his skull and his rounded tail was flicking in agitation. He obviously didn't want to be here any more than I did. I was glad that my first fight was against him. At least with Boku, I was protecting his sanity more than my safety.

I was not looking forward to my bout with Toki.

What if he recognized my scent?

I smirked to myself, recalling that at one point in my life, I would have laughed at such a ridiculous thought. I'd thought I was fully human, not necessarily a normal one, but at least I thought I was human enough not to have to worry about people recognizing me by my scent. The dim flash from a past I supposedly hadn't lived was a reminder that even though the scars on my body were gone, the ones in my heart were still fresh. I shook my head roughly and knelt into a fighting stance.

"Our seventeenth battle of Boku from the Tora team and Bri from the Urameshi team is about to begin!" Koto shouted. "Boku is from the Yearling clan of tigers near the Forest of A Thousand Deaths in the Makai, while Bri is a halfling born of a copper kitsune and a human man. Let's see how these two come out! Judges, be at the ready! Boku, Bri, the rules are simple. Everything goes as long as you don't kill or seriously injure your opponent. Is that understood?"

"Yeah, I got it," I said, not leaving my stance. "He won't be dead."

"She's just a frail old woman," Boku said. He still had that utterly high-pitched voice you wouldn't expect of a tiger. I guess it had never left him. "I will be careful."

"Well, folks, looks like we have our fight cut out for us. On the count of three! Three! Two! One! Fight!"

Neither of us moved. I stared at him. He stared back. The tension, the silence in the air, it was so thick you could cut it with an ink pen. A knife would have murdered it dead. My brain wanted to follow that train of thought, but my body would not allow it. Both eyes were trained on Boku.

He made the first move.

I ducked a fist, threw one myself, powered a flame arrow at his arm, and jumped back. I smirked and let the fire go out. Boku stared me down, golden eyes flashing with an emotion I hadn't counted on: fear. Boku was afraid of me. What did a tiger like him have to be afraid of? I looked like a freakin' old lady to him!

"Yo, Boku," I said, acting the level-headed warrior I definitely wasn't. "Is that all you got or are you scared?"

"I am not afraid of you," he said. But I caught the hidden meaning behind his words. He wasn't scared of _me_. The fear in his eyes was evident. He glanced over my shoulder, toward a stand. I dared not turn my back on an opponent, so I circled like Kurama had taught me, swinging round so that I could see what he was looking at.

I reached into my pocket and withdrew a cherry seed. Just a little energy, and a small branch wrapped around my wrist. The point was duller than I would have made it had I been aiming to kill him.

Boku glanced over his shoulder, obviously aware that I was an honorable fighter or that I was going to follow the rules and not injure him severely. I followed his eyes to the tables set up where Koto had taken her seat. Beyond her were the three judges.

The judges.

He was scared of the judges.

I would have laughed at him, had I not had my suspicions as well. The trio obviously had a great deal of power and influence if they'd done everything they had so far. Boku stared at me now, seeing that I'd gotten it. Or, that's what I think he saw. I dulled the tip of my cherry dagger even more and went on the offensive.

Just as Kurama had taught me. Circle…circle…wait for the moment when he least expects it…I stared him down, making him watch my eyes and not my body. I was closer than he expected when I lunged. I caught him on the head with the broad side of my cherry dagger. He was down.

Unconscious in two strikes. I obviously had overestimated him. Koto glanced from me, to him, to the judges, and back to me again. After only a few moments, the judges had their scores. Ten, ten, and…three? The Moon had given me a three! I scowled, but bowed to the cheering stands and calmly walked back.

"Way to go!" Yusuke congratulated me as I came back through. "A twenty-three, not bad for your first match."

"I think The Moon doesn't like me," I said, scowling. "Boku was distracted, anyway. I think he was scared of the judges."

"Why would he be scared?" Kuronue asked. "Didn't you say that they wouldn't care about who ruled?"

"That's what scares _me_," I said. "There's something more to this tournament than meets-the-eye. I intend on finding out what it is."

…

…

…

Okay, now here's a reason to celebrate: ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! WHOOOO! Sorry, I've been wanting to say that for a while. I got a hundred on Wolf's Last Cry, but that was after the fact. I'm weird. Just say it, I'm weird.

I might have a job at Wal-Mart soon enough, so I don't know how that will effect how often I update. I think I'll be able to handle it, though. It's cool.

My brother's an idiot. He's trying to get back together with Amber. --()

Also, I've got what I'm going to do with Yomi and Kuwabara. Still gotta think of something for Kurama, guys. How to trick a smart guy…;

Also, I received one review about this: The book that I'm "testing" Bri out for. If you want to help me out with it, _please_, email me. I would love to let you all read it, if you want to. I've been working on it for several years. However, this is the problem that I've run across: Publishers do not want stories that have previously been posted on the internet at any time. I can send it through email for beta-editing purposes or for people to just read them, but I can't put it on fiction press or anything like that. Thanks for the interest if you do want to read…

And now that I'm done wit' that, let's move on to the individual awesome peoples…

Kuramafan: I think I've got the pranks down. And my MSN thing STILL won't log me on. I don't get it. I really don't. Can you try and get Yahoo Messenger? Please? It still works…TT

Chevron Ice: Thanks for the info! I dunno about my brother, he's just…he's frustrating. All macho-man and stuff…Thinks he can handle himself without the family "butting in". There's really nothing I can do, and that's what's so frustrating. I don't think a 15 year old age gap is all that big, either. My grandparents are thirty years apart. Eh heh. It's kind of the teacher-student thing that would be the problem, actually, but I don't think either of them have really thought about that issue…

Kohari: I know I wear my one piece of jewelry everywhere, with the exception of church, shower, and bed. It's a necklace with a ruby dragon's tear, and a pewter phoenix holding that. I got it at Akon. I can't wear it to church because my religion is against jewelry, but I don't care about that, really. And bed because I'm afraid to get choked, shower because pewter rusts easily, I think. I don't wear watches because there's something stupid about my family's blood that makes them go faster for some reason. And nothing is ever irrelevant to me. I love character, and that is something that reveals a lot of it. It's details that make a person.

Lucifer: Kurama is gradually clueing in on what's going on, yes. Yayness for you being the first to get it! Yeah…The Moon is Tsuki, Yue in this time. I liked this chapter (16) because it goes back to the cat demon that started it all and the tiger that ate Bri.

Princess Kandra: LOL, okay. Don't worry, I think you'll enjoy what I have in store for our lovely couple. (evil laughter)


	17. Depth of Heart

Disclaimer: I'm an awesome writer, aren't I? I keep going and going and going, I'm like the freakin' Energizer Kitty. No, I meant to say Kitty, not bunny because I think bunnies are evil, especially pink bunnies, which the Energizer Bunny is, so now that I've thoroughly run-on this sentence, why don't I just add that I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or the Energizer Bunny, which I think is evil, so I've renamed it the Energizer Kitty.

Chapter 17: Depth of Heart

…Bri…

While the rest of our team battled, I led Kurama down a hall toward the V.I.P. room at the top of the stadium. The three judges were down on the field, of course, but I just had this gut instinct that we'd find something there. Kurama had come with me only because he was the only one to see me leaving. I couldn't stop him from coming, and I rather liked the idea that he was coming. He was stronger than me, after all.

We came upon the simple, unlocked V.I.P. room quicker than expected. All the lights were off inside, indicating that no one there. The door didn't even squeak as I eased it open and slipped inside. Kurama closed it behind us. I stared at the boxed room and its wide windows, shocked. There were three demons on the ground.

Dead. All cut into five identical pieces. They were in the same black cloaks that the judges below were in. One in particular caught my eye, though, even as I stepped over a bloody leg and attempted not to gag.

It was Yue Junana's father.

A cat demon?

Kurama seemed to recognize another. He pointed to the man's face, his own very pale. I stared at it for the longest time, at a scar over his eye and the thick black hair in a strange combination of short and long. His slim eyes were glossy with recent death. I could still feel heat coming from his body.

"It's Sakyo," Kurama said softly. "The one who manipulated the younger Toguro in the Dark Tournament."

I blinked and let my eyes fall again on the man whose soul had inhabited my uncle Gun Wa. I had never gotten to see what his true face looked like. With a stir of ironic humor, I realized that he was just as handsome as my real uncle was, if not more. I growled softly, remembering that he had been going out on the side with Shizuru.

"Do you smell that?" Kurama asked quietly. "Bellflowers."

"The blue kind," I said quietly. The scent that I'd known from my cat heritage, in addition to catnip. It had never been on Tsuki, her scent so overpowered by the catnip side. "Who do you think did this?"

"They've only been dead a few hours," Kurama said, straightening. "I think they were meant to be the three judges. This does not bode well."

"We should get out of here before we're discovered," I said. "Do you know who the third one is?"

Kurama turned the third body over. Neither of us recognized the woman's face, but the rounded ears made it clear of what descent she was. A mouse demon. I took one final glance at the broken bodies of the room before shutting the door again. Kurama led the way back to the others, where we told them what we saw.

"We had best remain cautious," Kurama said. "We do not know what we are up against."

"No sweat, just like old times," Yusuke grinned. "Oh, and Bri? You're up against Buck in two minutes."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner!" I shouted and dove through onto the field again.

…Kurama…

Our team progressed quickly through the three Physical battles, all obtaining at least sixty points to go on to the next round. If an individual on a team did not make at least thirty points, the entire team was out of the running. Apparently this Tournament of Trials wasn't as individually-oriented as we had first thought. My last fight was against a dragon demon named Hiro. He hadn't lasted long.

"The last battle of the day is number seventeen, Bridget Wolf from the Urameshi Team and Neko Toki from the Toki Team." Koto announced.

I took a deep breath as I sat in the stands nearest the stadium with the others, Kuronue on one side and Hiei on the other. I was almost surprised to hear Kuronue growling deep in his throat, his thick golden fox tail twitching in agitation. I could tell that Kuronue and Bri were of a different line than myself, but they were still kitsune, nonetheless.

"Worried for her?" I asked.

"Bri can take care of herself most of the time, but when she confronts her past, she's adamant about keeping it to herself," Kuronue said, scowling. "She would rather put all of her energy into maintaining that image she's projecting toward that cat than protecting herself."

I allowed myself to jolt at this in surprise. "She's putting out that much energy?"

"Yeah. You can't sense it, but…" He drifted off.

"Your connection allows you to see more of her." I finished for him.

"Mm hmm. My sister is a stubborn, stubborn girl. Glad I agreed to have her."

I chuckled softly as Bri came out onto the field. It caught in my throat as soon as Toki sauntered out. I felt a searing anger crawl up my spine. He was beautiful, in all the dangerous, wonderful ways of the cats. It was often said that the only thing more beautiful than a fox spirit was a cat. Long, shimmering midnight hair, deep golden eyes, and a flawless face.

I could see why Bri had come to despise him—he was completely narcissistic, carrying a mirror round his neck and staring fondly into his sword. You couldn't mistake that he was looking at himself.

Not to mention that he was naked, save for a small sash the color of his ivory silk skin around his hips and waist and a spiked collar around his neck. Bri visibly swallowed and knelt into a shaky stance. The terror in her scent was evident even from this distance. I knew that more demons than Toki would sense that fear.

Sure enough, the cat calls began (no pun intended), jeering and harsh. I blocked them all out, but Bri was certain to have heard them. Her knees went weaker. With her illusion holding strong, as Kuronue had said, she was already at half power.

Koto raised her arm to begin the fight. She gave the call. Bri circled slowly, her unease evident as she tripped over her own feet. Toki, like the predator he was, attacked first. Daggers came at her and I'm sure I would have jumped in myself had she remained frozen. The sound of metal clanging to stone met my ears. Even my eyes hadn't followed the movement. Hiei murmured.

"Clever."

"What did she do?" I asked.

"The oldest technique in the book. Behave as if you are prey and when the predator strikes, turn it against him." Hiei's eyes hadn't left the stadium as he spoke. "She stole one of his own daggers when he attacked."

When I glanced up, I stared in shock. Bri had one dagger still in her hands as she knelt to the stadium to pick up and throw the others clear out. She reached into her pockets and withdrew a seed as she tossed the last. Toki attacked, blinded by rage. She barely held him in check, blocking with the blunt edge of her own cherry dagger and her arms and legs. He was far superior in strength.

Bri backed up, to my horror. Despite her clever technique, she was losing the fight, badly. I waited for her to cry out, to do something other than block and step, block and step. But no, she continued to back away from Toki until her foot hit the edge. Bri dodged the next strike, rolling into the center of the stadium.

Toki leapt and brought both hands down on either side of her still-down form. Anyone with ears could hear her scream in terror. I jumped to my feet, not knowing what I was planning, but planning to do _something_. Anything. I jumped over the edge of the stadium walls, only to find myself being dragged back. Kuronue and Hiei each had my arms and Yusuke had grabbed the back of my shirt.

"You can't do anything, you'll get her disqualified!" Kuronue shouted. He pulled me bodily back into my seat, both Hiei and he still holding onto my arms.

Suddenly, a loud whistle blew and the three judges were on the floor, announcing that this was the end of the fight. I couldn't hear them, could only stare at Bri. She had a few new scrapes, one on her arm quite deep. She was even smiling.

"The Physical element is officially _over_!" Koto shouted. "According to The Moon, the top three teams are: Team Matsu, Team Urameshi, and Team Toki!"

…Kurama…

She yanked her hand back, hissing. "That hurts!"

"It should," I said teasingly. I pulled gently at her arm and placed the cotton ball back over her largest cut. "You scared me today, Bri."

She scoffed. "I handled it. I'm fine." I moved the cotton ball. Wince. "Okay, not completely, but I'm alive, aren't I?"

"I thank Inari," I said dryly. I shifted the cotton ball again, to more hissing. I added quietly. "He really cut you up, didn't he?"

"Like a freakin' piece of paper." Bri grinned nonchalantly, cut off by yet another wince and a low growl. "I wish you'd stop putting that in so—deep." She jumped as I suddenly touched the deepest of the wound.

"You don't want to get an infection, do you?" I asked with a smirk. "Foxes are very—"

"Susceptible to disease, I know." She rolled her eyes. I set the bloody cotton ball down and retrieved a second, soaked in alcohol. A soft moan this time, as the wound bubbled angrily at the cleansing liquid.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"Kuronue went to train with Hiei, and the others went with the girls and Gun Wa to the hotel restaurant," I said. I cleaned the remaining smaller wounds quickly before retrieving the bandages I had brought. "Do you want me to order something to eat?"

"You expect me to eat after all that?"

I smirked. "Yes. Why would you not want to eat?"

"Maybe to kill myself so I don't have to deal with Toki again," she murmured. "I think he recognized my scent. That would be the only explanation to his reaction."

I sighed and finished wrapping her arm. "Bri, I realize this may be a bad time to bring it up…but I think you should try to find your boyfriend again."

She moaned loudly and covered both ears. "I'm _so_ not listening to this right now."

I sighed. Why was she so stubborn? Kuronue was right. She would rather expend all of her energy hiding herself than confront the demons of her past. I took both her shoulders in my hands and tilted her chin slightly to let her look in my eyes.

I found myself lost, unable to come up with what I was going to say. Her eyes were deep, like the endless sea and the endless sky side by side. I saw hurt in them, hurt and anger. Not with me, but with herself. She glanced up at my bangs instead and easily found her voice, unlike me.

"What?"

"Why do you not want to look me in the eye?"

She blinked and glanced off to the left, at the ceiling somewhere. "I don't look anyone in the eye. It makes me uncomfortable."

"Why?"

She smirked. "You sound like a little kid, Mister Minamino. Any particular reason why?"

I smiled, but didn't answer. The truth of the matter was, I felt young around her. I felt like a little hundredling, barely capable of taking my human form at all.

It was strange seeing Bri born the way she was. Most foxes were born just that: a fox. The fox spirit didn't take demon form until one was fifty, when the fox shifted from Human world to Demon world. It was strange to see Bri with her fox ears, but know that her body was only sixteen years old.

"Kura-a-a-ma-a-a…" Bri sang, waving one hand in front of my eyes. "You spaced again. What's up?"

"Nothing but the sky," I said. "You didn't answer my question."

"Nor did you answer mine."

Clever. "I asked first."

"You know you're not getting an answer from me. Let's order pizza."

I chuckled softly. It wasn't until then that I realized my hands were still on her shoulders. I let them drop to my side and picked up the phone. She snatched it from me and stretched leisurely out on the couch of our common area. As she ordered, I couldn't help but stare at her. Her attention was on the phone, so she wasn't going to see.

Bri had grown up so quickly, it was hard to remember her as the three-year-old I'd once played Go Fish with. Her golden ears flicked lazily as she told the line what we wanted, and her tail, usually hidden, flicked and snaked from under her t-shirt. The white tip drew little circles on the couch. But her eyes…I will never forget those few seconds of pure silence, drowning in the sky and the ocean at once. They were slightly different in tone, though you couldn't see it unless you were staring right at them. One was paler than the other, and I recalled her saying she couldn't see as well out of it.

"Yes, I did say _rainbow trout_ on a pizza," Bri snapped into the phone. "Fried. No. Yes. _No_, I don't want garlic sauce." She glared at the pillow. "Does it _sound_ like I'm a vampire! Just a normal pizza with rainbow trout!" She hung up the phone. "Some people have no adaptation to normal Japanese. Either that or they're retarded. I like the latter myself."

"You were asking for a normal American-style pizza with an okonomiyaki topping, Bri," I said calmly. "Of course he might find you a bit strange."

"Hel_lo_, you're the one who introduced me to rainbow trout on pizza!"

I shrugged. "True."

"Arg!" She threw a pillow at me, which I caught and threw back on the couch. "You're _impossible_, Youko Kurama!"

"But you still love me," I said brightly. She blinked for a second before nodding. "Hey, what's with that look?"

"Nothing," she said innocently. Right. Innocence.

"Bri…" I warned.

"It was nothing!"

I smirked and reached out. I caught her sides and let my fingers find all the little niches that I knew would make her double over in ecstasy. She squirmed and laughed, crying out for mercy under the torturous tickling I could deal out. Bri scowled when I released her.

"It was nothing. Really," she repeated. Someone knocked on the door. In rolled the pizza a few seconds later, covered with bits of fried rainbow trout and two steaming cups of hot chocolate. An envelope was on top of the first plate, addressed to Bri.

"Who's that from?" I asked.

"Dunno…" Bri said. She grinned and "lit" one finger, burning through the top of the envelope. Out came a completely unharmed sheet of paper a moment later. I shook my head and started in on the pizza. She growled after a few minutes and stuffed the balled letter into the trash.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing," she said. She grabbed some pizza and ate quickly. "I'm going to go see if Koko and Keiko are back yet. I promised Jun I'd buy him some sweet snow."

I chuckled. "All right, wait for me down by the elevator. I'm going to call room service back to let them know that we're done."

"Okay," she said. "Hurry up!"

The moment she was out of the room, I unfurled the letter from the trash and read. It was only a few lines long. However, all the letters were cut and pasted from a newspaper, obviously for secrecy.

_Bri_—

_Please, tell him you love him. You are breaking yourself for no reason. He loves you still, can't you see that? I know you've cried, you've been rejected. Now is not the time for stubborn pride. Get him back._

_A Friend_

So I wasn't the only one trying to get Bri to tell her boyfriend her identity. I sighed and reballed the paper up before picking up the phone. When I arrived at the elevators, Bri pressed the button.

"What took you so long?"

"Apologizing to room service."

She scowled and punched me—hard—in the shoulder.

It actually hurt somewhat.

…

…

…

You guys'll never, ever guess what I found yesterday! A whole group of little Kurama foxies made their den in a field near my house! I'm going back tomorrow and see if I can get a pic with my digital camera. If I get it, I'll send everyone whose email I have the pics, okay?

In addition, I've done yet another fan art for this story and I'm working on yet another, as well. It's on www dot deviantart dot com and my name there is, of course, Ugly Kitten. So far, my works have been in prismacolor pencil, but this next one (which I hope to get done before I put up the last chapter) is in watercolor, so it's going to take forever.

I was going to update earlier in the night, but a certain little brother decided to run off and I was unable to do the editing in time. Also, there was a really awesome full moon, it was blood red! I love the red moon. It's awesome.

And those who want to help with my book…THANK YOU! Okay, here's what I need you to do if you want to help. I'm thinking of doing like an "update" format so you don't have so much to "swallow" all at once. If you want to help, please email me at twoteenagers at msn dot com. I'll explain more once I have everyone's email. Thank you so much for your interest!

Okay, now that I've babbled away two minutes of ya'll's lives…

Sillylittlenothing: LOL, it's weird to have someone review anyway even though you read it while I was "talking" to you…But thanks. It's nice to know that people love this story almost as much as I do.

Lucifer: Bingo, bingo, you win the prize! I'm trying to point out that people can change, and I think it's working if you're starting to doubt the motives of The Moon. You'll just have to wait and see what the outcome is, but I think you'll like it all the same. Yup, so many possibilities, but I'm always choosing the ones I think are least likely to be thought of, so we'll see, ne?

Kohari: Nope, I don't think any of us are freaks, considering that everyone has been through or done something similar to someone else. I continually meet people who are similar to me, and yet totally different. Like me and yet unlike me, different and yet exactly the same. Someone told me that was crazy. I think I need to get out of the house more. Maybe I should drive down to Austin and see sillylittlenothing…(a 12 hour trip...I think _I'm_ the freak...)

Peeka-chan: See the above about my story…and thanks for the interest. Definitely need mistake-spotters. I'm not so good with mistakes because I only make a few of them and I can't catch them very well because there aren't very many and I love breaking rules just to make myself go back and fix them. See? Run-on. Gotta love da run-ons.

Kuramafan: I like Bri's "blast from the past" episode because it reveals character I don't think she realizes she even has. And here is the chapter, as promised!


	18. Day Two

This one was short, so I decided to go ahead and put it up…This chapter was inspired by the ACT and too much watching the Kurama's past episodes.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, ha ha! What a joke on me. I thought if I wrote them more often, they'd become mine. I guess not.

Chapter 18: Day Two

…Bri…

"Welcome to Day Two of the Tournament of Trials!" Koto yelled. "The Star will be telling us what will happen, because I'm not entirely sure myself."

Neither was anyone else. The stadium had been cleared and most of the demons in the stands were staring down at rows of about fifty or so desks. They looked like school tables from Meikou itself. I was behind Kurama and in front of Kuronue in one of these desks, facing a thick packet of paper (blank), a pencil, and a pencil sharpener. The Star, in her black cloak yet again, took the mike. The Moon and The Sky were nowhere to be seen.

"I'm afraid there won't be much to watch today," she said. "This is the Mental Trial, a simple test of knowledge. All correct answers will bring points. All incorrect answers will be ignored. I'm sure you've all taken tests before, so I will leave you to it. Begin."

Everyone in the stadium stared at her.

I sighed and opened the packet of paper. It looked like any normal high school entrance exam, only it asked questions about demons, too. I was lucky I had paid attention to Yusuke's constant yapping about Demon World politics. The questions ranged from complex algebra to simple language skills (in about a dozen languages, some of which I didn't know). There were even some general trivia questions, which I got pretty easily. I felt pretty good about my test when I handed it in.

They called this a tournament?

I sighed and hopped over the edge of the wall beside Kurama, who had long ago finished his test. I think he was done about five minutes after The Star let us begin. Kurama probably answered every question correctly. There were still several demons out on the field, Kuronue and Kuwabara included among them. The stands were all but deserted. I didn't really blame those who had left.

After all, who would want to watch about fifty demons taking a stupid test?

Yomi stood from his desk at last, having had another demon have to read his questions aloud to him. The Star had sat nearby to make sure he was doing only just that. She left immediately afterward, to my not surprise. The surprising thing was that Yomi came right over to us after he weaved expertly out of the desks.

"Kurama." He nodded a small greeting. "Bri. Pleasant to see you here again."

I smiled. "Is that supposed to be funny, Lord Yomi?"

"Please, just Yomi," he said. He took a seat on Kurama's other side. I got a really good view of the three ears he had, all tapered points. His front-most horn that I could see had a small chip in it. Was that from one of his fights? "Does something seem amiss here?"

Kurama glanced in my direction. "Aside from the fact that most of the demons here were forced into this Tournament of Trials?"

"Yes, but that may not be part of it," Yomi said.

I glanced at Kurama. "Do you think it might still be there?"

"We can look," he said. "Follow us."

I couldn't help but notice every step of the way. Yomi followed us as well as if he could see quite well where he was going. In fact, he seemed to sense the uneasiness that we felt in going to the V.I.P. room again. When we sped up, so did he. His expression remained calm, but I could tell he was reacting within. As we neared the room, the scent of death reached my nose. I gagged in reflex.

"Perhaps you should wait here, Bri," Kurama suggested. "You're not used to this."

I scowled. Glared. "Do you _really_ think you need to protect me _all_ the time, Youko Kurama? I'm not a little girl anymore."

He blinked, the only sign that I could see to tell me he was taken aback. Yomi remained silent, waiting patiently. Kurama nodded slowly and we continued as if we'd never spoken at all. The scent grew worse. Although I knew there were slightly worse smells—decay, perhaps—death was something I was not used to. Maybe I should have heeded Kurama's warning, but something else—my pride?—made me continue on.

Then the door swung open.

The bodies were in much worse condition than before, now mutilated beyond recognition. The five neat pieces they'd been in before was a thing of the past, as if some sick tyrant had come in with a sword or a chainsaw and finished the job. I covered my mouth and nose, but it did no good to keep out the scent. Now was the time I wish I weren't half fox.

"This is unexpected," Kurama said, his voice still calm. Of course, he was used to death and violence. He'd been a warrior for more than a thousand years. "The bodies were recognizable when we were here before."

"You knew them?"

"Bri and I believe that they were the original judges for this tournament. A lawyer from Hong Kong, cat. Sakyo, though how he'd come back to life is a mystery. A mouse demon, unknown. The other three are imposters."

Yomi nodded. "We should leave the island while we have the chance." For some reason, I felt as if he was only playing.

Were they both trying to get on my nerves! "I don't know about you guys, but it's funny. A lot of the demons here, I recognize. Some of them should be dead."

"Karasu, for instance?" Yomi quipped, a small smile on his face. "I can sense your fox powers repelling him, Kurama. Though I don't know why you are concealing yourself from a tiger and a cat, Bri."

I blushed. "That's none of your business! And how can you sense that, anyway!"

"You hang around a fox for a few centuries and you learn some things," Yomi said. "We should leave before we are discovered."

The scent returned full force in my head. "Let's get out of here before I pass out."

"And you only have a halfling's nose," Kurama said, half teasing. I kicked him in the shin. What a wonderful girlfriend I would make to the boyfriend who'd forgotten me. I followed the two men out of the room and we resealed it. Kurama turned back to me a few steps outside.

"I promised Hiei I would meet him to discuss training Jun later," he said. "Can I trust you to get back to the hotel all right?"

"You should be more worried about _him_." I pointed at Yomi. The man is _blind_ and he can find his way around better than I can. "I'll be fine. Just leave already, you know how impatient Hiei can get."

Kurama left. I couldn't help but watch his sleek legs clench and unclench, the sinew and muscle of them prominent through his jeans. I turned back to Yomi to say good-bye. The horned demon had other plans.

"You love him, don't you," he said.

I growled in frustration. "Why does everyone _say_ that! I don't even know you!"

He chuckled, obviously amused. I wasn't.

"How did you meet him, anyway? Or can you remember that long ago?" I asked. I started walking back down the stairs toward the hotel. Yomi followed me as if he could see exactly where I put each step. I think he could sense it through his skin, or hear it, or something.

"How did _you_ meet him?" His voice was playful, and yet deadly serious. He knew something I didn't. It would have made any other person angry to be toyed with like that.

I guess I'm just not normal, because all I got was curious.

"Answer for an answer, then," I said. He nodded. I stopped on the stairwell, glancing first up, then down the stairs. "He was my godfather's best friend."

Yomi smiled eerily, knowingly. "That is not the first instance in which you met him."

I scowled. "And just how do you draw that conclusion?"

His topmost right ear twitched ever so slightly. "Someone is nearby. We should go someplace else."

Slowly, I nodded. If his hearing was as great as I suspected, then I should trust his instincts at least in part. I didn't realize that most blind people would not have sensed me nodding, but Yomi was different. He'd had a thousand years to perfect his senses, to feel air vibrations, hear heartbeats, sense the slightest changes in temperature. He led the way this time, into his team's locker room. The lockers here were green.

"You have powers, scents that surround you," Yomi explained. "Similar to Kuronue in ways, and in others very unique."

I blinked. "You know I have a different past because of my scent?"

Yomi sighed. "I am one of few who would notice it, having had dealings with the cats shortly before Kuronue was killed."

I blinked, before the dawning horror struck. "It was you. You're the one who had Kuronue killed."

"In the business of demons, revenge is not nearly as sweet as one might think," he said, sitting down on a bench. Yomi nearly missed it, and I think it was a sign of his unease with the statement. "I knew Kuronue was himself because of the faint scent of guano and ash that still hangs around him. Although he is now a half fox, the bat side of him still hovers. You have some cat still left in you, though I know you are of the same origin as he is. And although Kurama's normal scent hovers as well, there is also the fox's marking scent, so faint that even he himself can't recognize it."

I sat on the bench, hard. It moved slightly with my momentum. "I'm still marked?"

"Faintly. Few others would recognize it for what it is." I realized that Yomi was trying to console me, though he seemed to have very little idea how. "Kurama would recognize it, if he was searching for it. You're lucky, he hasn't thought to seek it out. Quite interesting, as Kurama has the clearest mind I know."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You wanted to know how I met him." Yomi chuckled darkly, the bitterness seeping into his own voice. "I, too, fell in love with Youko Kurama. He rejected me, though we remained friends, partners in our goal for lordship. I obtained the title, but I lost the friendship and trust. I do not wish the same for you."

I swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't meant to be. But I think for you, it is."

I sighed. "I wish I were so confident."

He fell silent. Then… "You didn't answer the question."

I smiled. "Do you know Koko Wolf, my cousin?"

He nodded.

"In the other time stream, she committed suicide, or at least that is what I was led to believe by our mother, Tsuki Sawaguchi. We shared one common dream, the two of us. We wanted to do foreign exchange in school to Japan. I went a few months after her death. Kurama was my host for the exchange. I lived with his family for three long years before I reversed everything by killing my mother before her birth."

"I met him in Gandara. We both wanted to steel the same loaf of bread and ended up taking the whole stand with us." Yomi and I laughed. "We weren't quite the legendary thieves then."

"Everyone has to start out small," I said.

"And everyone starts over small, as well."

Yomi stood and left me without another word. I walked back to the hotel, trying to determine what he meant.

…

…Unknown…

"Did you get all that?" I asked quietly. Yomi handed me the small recording tape with a small smile. "Thanks, Yomi-kun. I think it will only take a few more cracks in that stubborn wall to make her break."

"I like this woman for Kurama," Yomi smiled and set a hand on my shoulder.

I stuffed the tape in my pocket and sighed. "I just hope that the things set in motion will not come to pass."

"Rich men live for danger," Yomi said. If he had them, he would be rolling his eyes. "Kurama needs her. We should send the tape quickly."

"I will, after the final round is over. We need this to work, or they are going to freak," I sighed. "Years of planning, all resting on the whims of a love like this. When did they get so careless? When did I actually start to _care_?"

"You learned from them. As I did."

"True. I only hope my pushing them together will not create adversity between Bri and I. She hates me, you know."

"She doesn't know you."

I grinned and ran a hand lightly over his right horn. "Yomi-kun, why are you always so nice to me?"

"Because I love you, idiot."

I pulled one horn down and kissed him. When he pulled away, I smirked.

"You didn't catch the crow, did you, Yomi-kun."

"He managed to take flight before I could catch him. He has returned to the Makai."

"You know it will be so cool to see Kurama track Karasu down for himself. I'm sure he can beat him now."

"We shall see what he does later, love."

…

…

…

So, who wants to play "let's guess the unknown character who has the gall to call Yomi 'Yomi-kun'?"

Okay, I finished the watercolor one early…I've _got_ to stop drawing those two sleeping! It's on deviantart . com again, under UglyKitten. The search doesn't work, so you just type uglykitten in front of deviantart and it'll take you to my page. They're so cute together! But….I don't like how Kurama turned out…T.T

Sillylittlenothing: Not much that I can say to that without giving so much away…:)

Kohari: I started laughing at the last comment…that we have too much time on our hands on this site…It's so true! And I don't think psychological problems suck…in fact, they're kind of fun! Can act however ya want without anyone bothering you…unless you're clepto, then you've got the cops on your tail…or…Okay, so they do suck…

Peeka-chan: Awww…poor duckie…I had baby ducks from a store two year ago…we let them go in a park near here…and they keep coming back. Their names were Sakai-chan (from Iron Chef) and Spongebob. Bri: I'm all swirly eyed…sorry, Peeka, I'm not gonna listen to the letter. Kurama's gonna have to force it out of me! UK: Stubborn fool…

WindRacer: Sure, you can ask advise any time! I'm flattered, really. I didn't know this story was good enough to sit down and read through like that. But you and Kohari proved me wrong. And there was another person, too. When I started Heal Me, I thought it was just another story I wouldn't finish. Now look at it…three stories…Oo

Kuramafan: Nope, not Kuronue or Koko. It's a person who doesn't really know much about her, but seems to know a lot anyway. Wonder who dat is…

Bookworm: (sweatdrop) Don't go nuts…And I really don't think this story's all that great. Oo I know, I'm weird. Just slap me, why doncha. And "best flippin' KuramaOC" doesn't exactly describe it…I've seen better, really, I have. I think. There are a bunch better than mine. Eh…try Kirei Kiane's stuff. It's not KuramaOC as in romance, but in friendship. I'm Eishi-kun's fangirl…

Lucifer: Another cakes who thinks it's Kuronue or Koko…I repeat, nope! I feel so evil right now. I will say this, the other three did kill the judges, but the reason will blow you outta da water. _Actually_, I've never had rainbow trout before. I don't like fish. Lol, I know, weird, I'm writing a character who loves it to death. I'm a cheese pizza girl. I know rainbow trout is a common okonomiyaki topping in Kyoto and Japan, though. It's like the Japanese version of pizza, doncha know.

Rayne-chan: Everyone loves this story and I really don't see why…I'm nuts, aren't I. I gotta be.


	19. Bri, Prince of Denmark

It's official, ya'll! I GOT THE JOB AT WALMART! Go me, go me, it's not my b-day, but I don't care, go me, go me—okay, I'll stop. Anyway

Okay, BEFORE YOU START THIS CHAPTER!

Now that I have your attention…hopefully…This next part deals with something that some of you might not be familiar with. It's a play. Maybe you've heard of it, it's called Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and it was written by William Shakespeare. Oh, so you have heard of it! Great! I know that not a lot of people have read and/or seen the play, though. If you have not seen or read the play, please read the following before you begin the chapter. It may be of some use to you, especially if you've got issues with Shakespearean language, like I used to.

Hamlet is about a prince. Duh, it's in the name. Anyway, Hamlet's father (also named Hamlet) died two months ago. Not even that long afterward, his uncle (Big Daddy Hamlet's brother) married Gertrude, the queen (Hamlet's mommy). In Elizabethan times, marrying your brother's wife was considered incest, however, Denmark let it "slide" due to a lack of king.

The story goes that Horatio, a good friend of Hamlet's, sees the ghost of Big Daddy Hamlet out with some of their soldier buddies. When Hamlet manages to talk to his dead daddy, he finds out something incredible: his Uncle Claudius killed his dad! So, Hamlet devises a plan to get the truth from his uncle. He's gonna act crazy so he can get in close to king Claudius and kill him.

Somehow, Claudius finds out and devises a counter-plan to kill Hamlet. When the plans clash, everybody in the castle who is of use is killed, excluding Horatio. In his dying (a very long one, too) breath, Hamlet tells Horatio to live on and expect this dude from Norway, Fortinbras, to take his place as rightful king.

Okay, that's the basic story. However, there are also some things that I used from the story that weren't so basic. See if you can pick up on it. I used this play because they have very uncanny parallels in the details of the plot, though it's hard to make them out sometimes. Anyways, on with the story. I've blabbed enough.

Oh, yeah, before I forget: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and I don't need to disclaim Hamlet because copyright law doesn't apply (HA HA!).

Chapter 19: Bri, Prince of Denmark

…Bri…

Day Three brought the Talent portion of the "Tournament". I was beginning to think this was more like a talent show than a stupid tournament. Then I remembered the stakes. I hate when stupid things happen for no apparent reason. I sat down at the table I'd been assigned to. The remaining contestants, as I'd come to call them, all had their own table to "showcase" their talent. White walls hid the others from view, only those directly in front of me visible. The demons in the stands were now in my face instead of far away.

The judges would come later.

I had only one talent that I knew could be called such, which was my art. Each team had been given an aid to retrieve whatever materials would be necessary for the Talent Trial. I had given mine directions to our house for my supplies and a portfolio. He returned after only a few minutes with my things and moved on to Hiei. I had no idea what any of my other team members had for their talents.

I could only hope they would satisfy the judges.

When The Moon, The Star, and The Sky reached my booth, not a one of them breathed.

_I failed_, I thought. _I let my team down._

The Moon glanced at a drawing of Kuronue and I as kids, me with birthday cake in my hair, him with chocolate icing all over his face. Another painting of Hiei and Jun eating sweet snow together, Hiei with the carton and Jun with a single scoop cone dribbling down his tiny fisted hand. The one of Kurama, Kuronue, and I all in front of the Chronodom doors, though no one else except Koenma would recognize it.

I was sketching in my notebook for a new painting, this one of the three specters that made up our tournament's judges. Their cloaks were daunting, but I was enjoying myself nonetheless. The Moon glanced back at me, and I caught a glimpse of her mouth under the cloak. I recognized that smile, somehow, but I couldn't quite put my finger on her identity. I filed it away for later.

"Thirty points," she said crisply. And then they were gone.

The others came to my booth soon afterward as the stadium began to trickle out again. I packed up my paintings as Kuronue slid into the seat I'd neglected.

"Only four teams left for the semifinal round tomorrow," Yusuke said. "We're in second place still."

"Wait, Team Trial, isn't that the last one?" I asked.

"No, they 'debriefed' us yesterday. We're tied for second with Yomi's team. Matsu and Toki have the first place. So, if anyone ties tomorrow, we'll have another round."

"What more can they do to us?" I moaned, setting down a fourth painting that I hadn't put up on display but on the table face-down. "Make us dance the polka? Does anyone get the feeling that this so-called tournament is a façade for something else?"

"We'll see when we win," Yusuke shrugged. "Can't do anything else."

Kuronue glanced at the painting I was still fingering. "I've never seen that border before, Bri, is this a new one?"

I blinked. "Er, yeah, but it's not fin—"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, sis, you never frame anything if it isn't finished. Let's see it."

"It's not that—"

Kuronue glared at me. "Let's see it, Bridget."

I sighed. "Fine, go ahead."

I turned it over. Gabriel. Again. I hadn't meant to draw Gabriel again. It just happened. Kuronue glanced up at me, then at the painting.

"The angel of fate. Good one."

I shoved it into my portfolio, wishing I could disappear. "I did it on purpose, don't get any ideas."

Yusuke threw an arm over my shoulder. That stupid knowing smirk on his face just about made me punch it right off him. "Aw, c'mon, Bri, who's the lucky guy?"

"Shut it."

"It's not like we don't know," Kuwabara added slyly. I scowled as he leaned over my shoulder. "How come every time I see your paintings, I get the feeling that I'm being sucked into it?"

"Because I'm really a vampire and I want to suck your energy dry through my paintings," I said dully.

"Really!" Kuwabara jumped away from me. "Bri's a vampire! Run!"

"She was joking, you idiot," Yusuke said. The sly smirk returned. "So, who _is_ the lucky man?"

"You're not going to wrench that name from me, even if I was dying my last breath," I snarled and shoved the remaining paintings into the portfolio. "Maybe I'll tell you later—when he's a grandfather."

"Aw, c'mon, Bri, you know you—"

"Just _drop it_," I snapped. "Can't you see that I don't want to bother him?"

"You still love him," Yusuke said.

"I don't _care_."

Kurama sighed. "Leave her alone, Yusuke. You will only make her more upset."

I took a drag of air. Why did my lungs feel like they were made of plastic? I grabbed my portfolio and stalked toward the hotel again. Some friends I had. Always trying to hook me up with Kurama without ever thinking of the consequences. He was fifteen years older than I was—too old for a sixteen-year-old girl. Of course, he was also more than a thousand years older than that even. I stopped short and glanced back.

They were still talking. I could still pick up Kurama's voice chastising them. I smiled sadly at the thought. Even in the other time stream, our love had been wrong. A quarter cat barely aged nineteen and a thousand-year-old fox in a nineteen-year-old human's body. Now, a half fox at fifteen with years behind her and a fox with so many more. I could not hope to be accepted.

And yet, hadn't Yomi said that Kurama would? Kurama had accepted me once before, though it was not entirely the same Kurama. Yomi had been rejected. In the Human World, it would have been a snuffed relationship, too. But in the Demon World, such relationships weren't uncommon and were accepted by the society. So why had Kurama rejected him? It was obvious that Kurama had some sort of feelings, at least back then, for the horned demon.

What was so different now between Kurama and I?

Demon World would accept our relationship. Age did not matter—demons hundreds of years apart mated every day. Toki had no qualms at all about mating with a human or a three-quarters human. In fact, he had very much liked me upon meeting me, though I hadn't exactly returned the feelings. Was this what Kurama felt for Yomi? Just didn't return the feelings?

Did Kurama love me still?

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the paintings I'd done. The sketches I'd made of the three phantom judges were there, too. I stared longest at The Sky, the potbellied man in a black cloak. For some reason, I felt drawn to him. Not like I was to Kurama or Kuronue. It wasn't a brotherly thing, nor was it love. I was just drawn. Like there was a connection there I didn't quite understand.

It was the same way with The Moon and The Star. I felt I even knew The Moon, whose lower face I'd caught a glimpse of today. The Star seemed familiar, also, like some kind of phantom from a dream.

The door to the room opened. The scent of chocolate and the field, along with a faint rainbow trout scent, entered my nose. Kurama. He set a mug of thick hot chocolate on the table in front of me, silent. I took a sip of the hot chocolate, surprised to recognize Coffee Coffee's signature blend.

"I had our aid retrieve them," he explained quietly.

"Ah."

"They know who your boyfriend is, don't they," Kurama asked.

He set his mug down and flipped through the portfolio. Paintings, drawings, sketches of my friends and family, all engaged in one way or another in their favorite things. Koko with Jun and Hiei, Keiko with Yusuke and Yume. Kuwabara and Yukina, still waiting for the birth of their first child. Ice apparitions had a very long waiting period due to the cold, or so Kurama had explained to me.

Gina with her first class of art students from Meikou.

Gun Wa with a dissecting frog, scalpel in hand. I remember being sick often when painting that one, but I'd promised to do it, nonetheless. Ayame and him together in the Makai on their first visit together. They were still married, of course, but not in the human sense of the word. I guess it was just something that she needed. Her own world.

My mother and father, seated beneath the cherry tree in front of Meikou, the one where I always saw the bird during the spring, summer, and early fall.

Kuronue and myself with them, on a trip to Miyajima. The torii were so beautiful and made the composition very special to me.

And then there was one of Kurama, seated beside Kuronue and I. We were in the Chronodom, doing math homework. Kurama stared at it the longest, or so my imagination told me. He set it down on top of the pile of paintings before taking a seat beside me.

"Yusuke went to draw for what our Team Trial will be," he said.

"What is it?"

Kurama sighed. "We are to do a play. _Hamlet_. The Moon assigned us parts and told me that we could gather any friends we have to fill the others."

His tone suggested that he didn't like how this had occurred.

"What are the parts?"

"Yusuke is to play Claudius. Kuwabara is Polonius. Hiei is Fortinbras. Kuronue is the Ghost of Hamlet and Ophelia. I am to play Horatio."

I blinked. "But who's Hamlet?"

"You."

I fell over. "You've _got_ to be kidding me!"

He chuckled softly. "That is what Yusuke said. But the duty rests with you to play the part of Hamlet. They will provide cue cards with the words, but the actions are up to us."

"Gotta be jokin'…So, we get the others to play with us?"

"Gun Wa has already agreed to be Rosencrantz to Ayame's Guildenstern. Koko will be Gertrude. Botan is Laertes, Keiko and Koko will be the Officers at the gate."

"Wild show…" I muttered hotly. "Wonder whose freaky idea it was for us to do a play on one day's notice."

"The Moon's."

"I'm going to kill her once we've won this thing."

"May I make the first strike?"

I giggled. "Sure, Kurama."

…

…Kurama…

I am very familiar with the human play _Hamlet_, and I did not like The Moon's sick joke of placing Bri in that character. I also did not enjoy the idea that I was the only one of the castle toward the end who was not going to die. I sat at the back of the "stage", waiting for Keiko and Koko to finish their lines as Bernardo and Francisco.

"Have you had a quiet guard?" Keiko asked.

"Not a mouse stirring," Koko said.

"Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, the rivals of my watch, bid them make haste."

"I think I heard them. Stand, ho! Who is there?"

I entered alongside Gun Wa, who was Marcellus. "Friends to this ground," I said.

"And liegemen to the Dane."

"Give you good night," Koko said.

"O, farewell, honest soldier; Who hath reliev'd you?"

The play was going rather well. Already, the demons of the crowd were entranced by the spur-of-the-moment play that most of them knew well enough. Shakespeare's plays had made it to Demon World to a large audience when I was a few hundred years old. I remember quite well that I had stolen a crown belonging to the Claudius of one of the first _Hamlet_ productions in Demon World.

Kuronue entered soon after, clad in old-time armor and carrying a broadsword. His pale skin in contrast with his black hair made him seem very ghost-like. Keiko and Gun Wa stated their lines quite well, bidding me as Horatio to speak to the ghost. The night-time scene finished, and soon we were rushing about the blackened stage to set up for the next scene, where Bri would be Hamlet at last. I think she secretly enjoyed playing the part of the mourning Prince of Denmark.

I watched from a hole in the curtain as "King Urameshi" played the new King Claudius on the stage. He used big, sweeping motions and talked on and on. Just like I had always pictured Claudius but had yet to see on a real stage. Yusuke should try out for drama in the Human World. He would make a good movie actor.

Botan spoke at last as Laertes. She made a good man. "Dread, my lord, your leave and favour to return to France; from whence though willingly I came to Denmark, to show my duty in your coronation; yet now, I must confess, that duty done, my thoughts and wishes bend again toward France. And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon."

Yusuke spoke again, this time going on and on about how Laertes should ask his father for that pardon. Kuwabara spoke loudly and with vigor, stating the repetitious speech of Polonius without much difficulty. He must have been practicing all night to do so, I could see the bags under his eyes.

Yusuke repeated the "graciousness" of King Claudius. "Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine, and thy best graces spend it at thy will!—But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son—"

Bri spoke at last, in an aside that Claudius should not hear. "A little more than kin, and less than kind."

It reminded me of her story, somewhat, how she had spoken of her mother, Tsuki. The woman who had pushed her through the time portal and forced her to meet her boyfriend's past. I stared out through the curtains, perplexed by a sudden rush of memories that should not have been in my mind.

Meeting her, almost killing her as my old self. She was in that nineteen-year-old body I'd seen at the doorway to the Chronodom. And then Koko was speaking as Gertrude and my focus returned.

"Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids seek for thy noble father in the dust—"

I recalled watching seven-year-old Bri with her father, Marion, after he had been shot in a dark alley. I had thought at the time that she was truly a child and had treated her as one then to comfort her. It was then, I recalled, that I had started staying with her. I thought I was being the father that Marion couldn't be, but Hiei had done that well enough. She had grown up twice now without her father.

Both times, he had been murdered.

Just like King Hamlet had been.

Suddenly, everyone was crowded around me, watching through the crack that I'm sure the entire audience could now see. Bri was alone. It was her time to shine, to bring forth the first monologue of Hamlet. She gave a wrenching cry from deep within her throat, so much real that I almost dove from out of the curtains to comfort her.

"O, that this too solid flesh would melt!" She cried. I could see the tears in her eyes from here. She was really into this character. "Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd his canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on't! O fie! 'tis an unweeded garden, that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely. That it should come to this!—"

I glanced out into the audience to see their reaction to Bri's most excellent acting. Some were in tears themselves, demons that would not admit to it later on. It seems strange to me to admit that Bri's monologue, though written expressly for Hamlet and this play, also hit home on her own emotions at times. Those who had trouble with Shakespearian play of words wouldn't understand, but I knew.

I knew at times that Bri would rather have committed her own "self-slaughter" than see the world in all its horrible ways. Rather have murdered herself than go through the murder of her father, the death of her mother. I waited in the background for the cue, the words that would allow Gun Wa and I to come out.

"But break, my heart—for I must hold my tongue!"

I walked slowly out from the curtains, Gun Wa not far behind.

"Hail, your lordship!"

"I am glad to see you well, Horatio—or do I forget myself," Bri said. Her short hair had been pulled back into a tiny ponytail, a hat placed on her head. She looked like a very handsome man to the audience, or so she said earlier. To me, though, she still looked like Bri Wolf. However, she was in perfect character as Hamlet.

"The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever."

It was then that I began as Horatio to try and convince my dear friend Hamlet that his father was a walking ghost about the castle. Bri did a fine job "drilling" us for information about Hamlet's father's appearance, and soon we had agreed to allow Hamlet to sit watch with us.

When at last the scene ended, the act ended, and the second followed. We were in the curtains now. Bri sat down, snatched a bottle of water from our tray, and gulped down at least half the bottle at once. Her delectable throat worked sweetly, catching every drop as if it were one mass. When she next set the bottle down, it was empty and she was gasping for breath.

"Sorry…" she said, breathless. "Talk, talk, talk, talk, I have a mind to find a cat demon and force him let me kill William Shakespeare or at least teach him economy of words."

We all laughed, but I think she might have been serious.

"The next act is the big monologue," Kuronue pointed out.

"Where's Gunner when you need her?" Bri groaned. "She didn't come. Wonder where she went?"

"She and Genkai had something to do today and tomorrow," Gun Wa said. "For Koenma, I think."

"Too bad," Bri grinned weakly. "Gunner woulda loved to see _Hamlet_ put on by her favorite people. I know I'm enjoying it."

"You get to kill the baka," Hiei grumbled, almost inaudibly. Kuwabara didn't hear, having still not figured out Polonius's fate. Although an excellent doctor now, Kuwabara had never been one for literature.

"Only one problem with this thing," Bri said. "They got some stuff wrong. Right, Kuronue? We came back, right?"

Kuronue laughed. "We're special."

I sighed. "Is everyone ready for acts three and four?"

Nods all round. The stadium went dark again as we entered for the second time. Bri played well at insanity, or was it Hamlet who played? No one really knew whether Hamlet truly went insane or if he was acting, as he stated he was. It was a battle that had raged for centuries and not even Shakespeare had the answer.

Bri was left alone by Kuwabara and Yusuke on the stage. She glanced from side to side, letting her hat tilt at a difficult angle.

"To be, or not to be—that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die, to sleep—no more. And by a sleep to say we end the heartache—"

Her heart wasn't beating.

It hadn't beat since she was struck by lightning.

Botan botched it.

"…To die, to sleep—to sleep!—perchance to dream, ay, there's the rub—"

Her powers came from sleep.

From her dreams.

From her death and rebirth.

The first time.

"…the pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay, the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes. When he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death—the undiscover'd country, from who bourn no traveler returns—"

But she did return.

She did not truly die.

"…Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; and enterprises of great pitch and moment, with this regard, their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action."

Kuronue stepped past me, and I barely heard the words Bri spoke next. Something about Ophelia and a nymph. For some reason—I knew the reason, I just didn't want to admit it—my blood was boiling at the thought of Kuronue and Bri together. It was a lucky thing that this play entailed the suicide of Ophelia not soon after this conversation. Everyone re-entered the curtained area, readying for the next part of the play.

I knew who Bri's boyfriend was.

…

…

…

WOOT! Kurama figured it out! O.o And a play helped him…Just like Hamlet used the "play within a play" to hunt down Claudius, as his plan was. I hope this chapter wasn't confusing, but I didn't want to write the _whole_ play out…

Next chapter: Kurama confronts Bri about his discovery. WHOOT! We're _finally_ there! But what is Bri's reaction? And why is Yomi suddenly delivering the tape? Did the Yu Yu guys win the tournament, and _was_ there really a point _to_ the tournament?

I prolly will wait a few days for the next one…maybe Thursday? No promises, though. If I promise, I might not remember, see. I ask people to remind me sometimes to update if I promise. If they forget…I forget. Seriously, my memory is bad. And now that I've wasted this space…let me just say…

You guys rock!

Kohari: Is this super-soon enough for yeh? LOL I saw WR's list…Interesting…I think you'll be surprised when we finally come to Yue's part in all this…but maybe I've already given too much away…O.o Prolly did. Or maybe not. I never know until I get da reviews in, right?

Peeka-chan: Our smart Kurama-kun figured it out all on his own. Bri always is threatening body parts from people, so I'm not surprised that she pinned you to a tree. I'm sorry if you've been pinned there for a while. (starts removing "sharp objects") Coke bottle, can opener, couple pennies, goldfish cracker boxes…sheesh, you'd think she'd be original and pin you with arrows or something. Nope, not a female character at all, though the character _is_ being sort of manipulated by a female character, though. I think you're the first person who's suggested Botan, though. Eh, dun worry about it, I think we get more answers next chapter. Kies?

Lucifer: Well, the tournament _began_ as a sincere threat by the three "original" guys. You are the first who's noticed that the tournament just doesn't seem to have much merit anymore. Don't worry, though, there is more purpose to it than that. I think. O.o I confused. Need to go back and read the chapters I wrote.

SilverDragon: Yup, the readers know _him_. Ish a guy. I know, weird that a guy would do that, but he's sort of being manipulated from the background.

Rayne-chan: Well, I do try to come up with good plots, and I like making them weird, too. You mean coupling, like who I paired peoples up with for romance? Eh heh…Thanks, I guess. I know that Bri has a major following now (looks at the hundred-sumthin' reviews with a MAJOR sweatdrop), but Koko does too. I'm thinking about doing some side stories just for Koko and Hiei, and maybe some from Bri and Kurama once everything "blows over". And also some of the other couples that will crop up later on, of course.

Kuramafan: I'm sorry…TT Me a bad, bad person. I put the Yomi-loved-Youko thing in there because it seemed like a good thing to do. I've seen many YomiXKurama fics out there, in addition to KuronueXKurama (and even some with all three together O.o). And I like the idea of unrequited love, or thought-to-be unrequited (as you can see, lol). Sorry about reminding you of your exams…TT Imagine when I was writing this…on my summer vacation…Maybe this will cheer you up some. Kurama knows!

Sillylittlenothing: Like I sent in my offline IM, you're close. So close. Not quite there yet. Here's a hint: He's a guy. And sorry I wasn't on….TT Mom gave me a sleeping pill so I could get some sleep. Fifteen _hours_ of sleep. O.o

Bookworm: Eishi-kun is the OC in Kirei-chan's stories. He's da most awesomest OC character I've ever seen. Plus, he's a guy, written by a girl. I mean, how many guy OC characters do you see on How many? Like, three? Good guess, but it's not The Star. I think you're the first to guess that one, though. She might have done it, it's a good possibility, but I'll tell ya right now: It's a guy. And I will check out your story ASAP. As soon as I can get some semblance of wakefulness…argh, it's gonna be even harder now that I have a job…but I shall persevere! No worries! I'm a fast reader…


	20. Bri's Boyfriend

Disclaimer: Keep tellin' myself that it won't take long till I'm free of my disease…it's this disclaimer that has infected me. Watch out! The I-Don't-Own-Yu-Yu-Hakusho-itus will catch quickly! Too late…T.T

Chapter 20: Bri's Boyfriend

…Bri…

The final scene of the final act.

"No, no, the drink, the drink—O my dear Hamlet—The drink, the drink!" Koko cried out into the stadium. "I am poison'd!" She slumped over the makeshift "throne", a horrible reminder that she had once died in my arms by our mother's hand, and now she played my mother dead. How ironic was that?

"O, villainy!" I cried. "Ho! Let the door be lock'd. Treachery. Seek it out!"

Botan collapsed at my feet, Laertes overacted as a man in a woman's body. "It is here, Hamlet! Hamlet, thou art slain! No medicine in this world can do thee good. In thee there is not half an hour of life."

Half an hour of life. I forgot for a moment where I was, what I was doing. If I had only half an hour left to live, what would I do with it? Would I confess to Kurama at last that I was in love with him? Would I? I sighed inwardly and fazed back in.

"…I can no more! The king, the king's to blame."

I stared at the sword in my hand, the one that "Laertes" had "traded" with me when he wounded my shoulder. "The point envenom'd too! Then venom to thy work."

I rushed at Yusuke, beside Koko's fallen form, and jabbed the bit of metal against his chest, "killing" him.

The others shouted. "Treason! Treason!"

"O, yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt," Yusuke said, holding up what I supposed was to be a nonchalant gesture.

"Here, thou, incestuous, murderous, danged Dane. Drink off this poison. Is thy union here? Follow my mother." I took the cup of "poisoned wine" from Koko's lax hands and shoved it into Yusuke's face, probably a bit harder than I thought I'd intended. He choked on the cup before collapsing, "dead", in his seat.

The scene continued, but I barely paid attention to the words any more, even the ones that I spoke. What would I do if I had to tell Kurama that I truly loved him, with only a few minutes left of life? He had had those few precious seconds of life once to stare at me, comfort me. Back when he had died in the other time, the time I'd constantly been reminding myself didn't exist.

What would I do, were I in his position?

"O, I die, Horatio," I stage-whispered to Kurama. He held me in his arms, just as he had the night my mother had died. "The potent poison quite o'ercrows my spirit. I cannot live to hear the news from England. But I do prophesy the election lights on Fortinbras: he has my dying voice; So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less, which have solicited. The rest is silence."

And I "died" in Kurama's arms.

"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! Why does the drum come hither?"

His voice soothed me, like a poet's timber voice. Shakespeare wrote good poetry sometimes…I was so tired…so tired….

I fell asleep there from exhaustion.

…

The room was dark, that's all I knew when I came to. I was in a bed. My bed, I could tell because my blankets were there. I dared not open my eyes. The silence was as deadly as any bout with Toki could ever be. Finally, I could stand it no longer. I glanced over my blanket, letting my eyes clear.

Twelve or more pairs of eyes all stared back at me curiously. Kurama and Kuronue were the nearest, though I could tell almost no one was absent. I didn't think there were, really, now that I could see straight. I blinked, swallowing at my dry throat.

"Um…hi, guys," I said hoarsely. "What's going on? Are we having a slumber party?"

"You passed out," Kuronue said bluntly. He handed me a glass of water, which I drank slowly. Nervous balls of furred fury beat against my stomach lining. There were too many people here for my liking. The fact that I knew them all didn't seem to matter much, just that they were there. They were here, so something must be wrong. Or right. I never know any more.

"Who are we going against tomorrow?" I asked the inevitable.

"We aren't," Yusuke smirked. Yume was sound asleep in his arms. I'd never pictured Yusuke much of a father back in the old time period. "We won. Hands down."

"The other teams weren't up to par," Koko said, grinning. Hiei was against the wall, Jun curled up on the couch in my room. Poor kids. "You blew 'em away with that act. No one's going to forget Bri Wolf as Hamlet."

"Aw, you're just saying that," I said. I could feel the blush coloring my cheeks.

"No, we're not," Gun Wa said. Was he wearing one of his lab coats? Why was I suddenly noticing all of these little details? "There are still some demons hanging around to see if you're all right, even. The Matsu team even dropped by." He pointed to the wall, where several piles of flowers sat. Gun Wa knew what that would mean to me. I would have to remember to thank him for thinking of that. "Yomi is still here. The judges wanted to wait to give us our 'prize' till you woke up."

I blinked away another wave of dizziness. "How long's it been?"

"A day," Kuronue said. "We were worried about you."

I scoffed. "And here I thought you knew me, Okuro."

He grinned. "Good to have my sister back."

Kurama glanced at the others, his acid green gaze falling on each person. One by one they trickled out of the room, all saying they would see me later. Kuronue was the last, and he kissed my forehead as he left. I swear I heard Kurama growl, but that may have been his stomach. He must not have eaten.

I could swear Kurama was waiting for something, wanting to say something. I waited for a minute, the tension closing round my throat like a boa constrictor. It was worse than a million miles of gravel shoved into my throat, like someone's driveway was crammed in there. I tried to be nonchalant, stretching each muscle in what I hoped was the cat-like movements Kurama had become accustomed to. I climbed out of the bed, running my fingers through my mussed hair.

"Can I get dressed?" I asked playfully, showing one of my canines with my grin. "Cause it has been a day since then and—"

He finally found his voice and cut me off.

"It's me, isn't it."

I stopped short, mid-stretch. "Wh-What?"

"It's me. Isn't it."

Kurama's gaze was leveled straight at me, though I refused to look him in the eye. I wouldn't look. It wouldn't be so hard to lie if I didn't look. I stood back nonchalantly against the wall, though my stomach felt as if it were some infernal critter were devouring me from the inside out.

"What are you talki—"

Sheetrock crumbled around his fingers, his palms stuck in the wall on either side of my head. I hadn't even seen him move. I was trapped, trapped like a fox in a one-way-out den. The hunter was waiting.

His voice was soft, but firm. Like one of those foam mattresses covered with shark skin coverlets. "Do not play with me, Bridget. Who is he?"

I felt the tears rising, though I fought them off with iron will. Iron likes to rust, in case you've forgotten. Kurama waited patiently, but I knew that it was wearing thin. If I tried to dodge him again, what would he do? He was Youko Kurama. He had on more than one occasion slipped information from creatures not willing to give it. I knew him well. Well enough to know that I didn't want to test his wrath.

I whispered my deepest secret to the one I had never planned to tell.

"You."

The sheetrock landed on the ground beside my feet. The crash was deafening in the silence that followed my one-word response. Kurama had backed away, staring at me with eyes unreadable. I looked at them now. For the second time since I had begun to live this life again. I wasn't caught, like I was before. No. This time, I saw the conflict in his eyes, the thoughts flitting in and out. I dared not turn up my Empathe skills to discern his thoughts.

"Bri—"

"Don't talk," I whispered again. His mouth closed. I swallowed hard. "I know it's wrong, okay? You don't have to tell me even once."

Without another word, I ran out of the room, and out of his life forever.

…

…

…

I am so evil, aren't I? Well, at the time I am typing this in, it is 12:01 in the morning. It is Thursday. I didn't promise Thursday, but I am doing it anyway.

Okay, another drawing announcement: I have done yet another fan art for this fic. It is of Kurama and Bri kissing, okay? It's at uglykitten (dot) deviantart (dot) com.

I'm sorry it's so short, but I wanted to cut it off there cause I just wanted to be evil like that. Sorry! I'm weird, ya don't have to rub it in…

Kuramafan: I know you're not…not many people are. But I love Hamlet and it just seemed so perfect for the Talent portion of the tournament. So what do you think of this little development? Eh?

WindRacer: I was really worried people would be confused by this chapter, that's why I gave the little "run down" on Hamlet's plot. I know Shakespeare is difficult to understand (Unless you've seen the movie Renaissance Man Danny Devito and figured out how to understand it better in lamen's terms). I had to _MEMORIZE_ Bri's speech for my senior class. I can still do it. I did that part from memory. LOL. And no problem at all. I love helping out other people—it's just what I'd want them to do for me.

Sillylittlenothing: (sweatdrop major) Wonders of my writing? Eh? I'm confused. I'm not that great. Kirei is great. I'm not. Okay, I read it wrong…But you'll just have to wait a bit more, eh?

Sonya: I was beginning to wonder about my favorite little redheaded fox.

Lucifer: Yeah, that's the plan for me, but we have to find out if Bri actually gets away. She might do an Ophelia and drown herself!

Peeka-chan: (still rolling on the floor laughing my butt off) Mom: She's still laughing about this. I don't understand what she's laughing about. Every time she opens this account, she stares at the screen and starts laughing. (looks at review herself. Starts laughing. Joins her daughter on the floor) UK: (finally gets up, panting) Okay…okay…I've seen several stories where Yomi is gay, and he's gone all those thousand years without a girlfriend, too, ya know. And Bri isn't mad anymore…I think she's gonna pull an Ophelia. Run, Kurama, run! Go rescue Bri! (Note: Ophelia is Hamlet's girlfriend. She commits suicide by drowning herself after Hamlet starts ignoring her.)

SilverDragon: As I suggested otherwise, definitely look up Danny Devito's movie Renaissance Man. I thought he'd never figure it out, too. But what's Bri gonna do? Girl's got a plan…

Rayne-chan: (tackles Kurama for her) FINALLY! You are so _blind_, you nitwit! Okay, okay, I will admit, this is a little out of character for Kurama. But, as Kuronue said (says?), there are ways to be blind that even Yomi could not understand.

Seeyu: Well, I figured even the smartest guy out there has got to _still_ be a guy. Check out my response to Rayne-chan for more info on that. (grins)

Bookworm: Well, I thought Hamlet could provide an interesting twist to an already interesting story (and I happened to be watching Renaissance Man with Danny Devito that night, too….). Um, since your SN says you're a bookworm, I have a suggested read for ya. It's called "Dating Hamlet" (dunno the author). It's from Ophelia's POV, but it twists everything around so that it only appears that she dies and…well, I'll let you look into it. I am an official WalMart associate now, yup yup. I have my badge and smock and everythin'. Just gotta go through the training now. Oo It's gonna be a rough couple of months yet….


	21. Hamlet's Death

(grins) Okay, here's the proper chapter…I'm so evil. I really am. EVIL UGLY KITTEN! Okay, Kurama, do the disclaimer.

Kurama: (calmly holding his Rose Whip) You really want me to hurt you, don't you, Lady UK?

UK: Er…(sweatdrop) No…not necessarily…

Hiei: Hn. Cats. They never realize how deep they are until they can't see the sun any more.

UK: Hey! You talk! (pokes Hiei)

Koko: Back away from my man, cat.

UK: Er…can someone please do the disclaimer before I get shish-kebobed by a very angry fire demon and his mate?

Random Reviewer (Insert you): I will! runs round in circles Let me, let me, let me!

UK: (pinned to a tree by Hiei's katana) Do it!

RR: UK does not, nor will she ever, own Yu YU _HAKUSHO!_ On with the new chappie!

UK: Oh, yeah, one more note on Hamlet. (grimaces against point of Hiei's katana) In the original play, it was Hamlet's plan to have a play put on in the exact stages of Claudius's murder of Hamlet's dad. That is the "play-within-a-play" that Kurama talks about.

Chapter 21: Hamlet's Grave

…Kurama…

I had known, before she even began to stir, that it was her. The play, ironically as Claudius had seen his own acts unfold in the play-within-a-play, I had seen mine in _Hamlet_. I had seen my love through Horatio's eyes, looking at Hamlet. At Bri Wolf, the girl I had fallen for not once, but twice. I remembered a time, spanning three years, in which I had not left her side, when I had saved her.

When she'd saved me from myself.

When we had danced our way through the Chronodom, had fought Matsu and Une, and Karasu again. My blood boiled at the thought that those very three demons had been here at the tournament. They had left already.

Still alive.

While she had slept in her bed, Yomi had come into our room, carrying a tape. He explained quietly that he had spoken with Bri. Kuronue and Koko did not leave, but the others had ducked out.

…_Flashback_…

(Quick AN: All words in _italics _are Yomi, **bold**is Bri, and regular is Kurama when the tape starts.)

"What damn hell is on this tape, Yomi?" Koko demanded. She was fearless, as always. I admired Bri's cousin for her way with words. Somehow, she always managed to get exactly what she wanted. She reminded me of Yusuke in many ways.

"Two confessions. Do not attempt to stop Kurama from listening to them. I must take my leave."

Polonius had confessions, too. In the play.

Was someone trying to tell me something?

Yomi placed the tape on the table, next to the boom box that Kuronue had brought with us for some reason. The former Makai lord left.

"I won't stop you from listening to whatever the hell's on that tape," Koko said, her voice low in her throat. Was she crying? "But you better damn well think before you act on it."

"I rarely act without thinking," I said.

"I know. Don't make this an exception."

She slid out of the room, gone before I could say a word.

I glanced at Kuronue, then at Bri's sleeping form.

"You hurt her, you die," Kuronue said. I barely heard him, but he knew I had heard correctly. He slipped away as well, a shadow of the old Kuronue surfacing. What was on this tape that had so much to do with me?

I had the feeling that I knew the answer already.

_You love him, don't you._ Yomi's voice.

A soft growl. Bri? **_Why does everyone say that! I don't even know you!_**

A chuckle from Yomi.

**_How did you meet him, anyway? Or can you remember that long ago?_**

Who was Bri talking about? Her boyfriend? Yomi knew him? Or was she talking about Kuronue or myself?

_How did you meet him?_

**_Answer for an answer, then. He was my godfather's best friend._  
**

They were talking about Yusuke? Kuwabara? Me? Hiei only had a few friends.

_That is not the first instance in which you met him._

What?

**And just how do you draw that conclusion?**

There was a bit of static, and I got the feeling that something had been edited out. Yomi's voice came back. I assumed he was still talking to Bri.

_You have powers, scents that surround you_._ Similar to Kuronue in ways, and in others very unique._

_**You know I have a different past because of my scent?**_

Yomi sighed.

_I am one of few who would notice it, having had dealings with the cats shortly before Kuronue was killed._

_**It was you. You're the one who had Kuronue killed.**_

I had known this, of course. But it still stung, and I knew from Bri's voice that she had not known it. Kuronue hadn't told her, then.

_In the business of demons, revenge is not nearly as sweet as one might think._ _I knew Kuronue was himself because of the faint scent of guano and ash that still hangs around him. Although he is now a half fox, the bat side of him still hovers. You have some cat still left in you, though I know you are of the same origin as he is. And although Kurama's normal scent hovers as well, there is also the fox's marking scent, so faint that even he himself can't recognize it._

Me? They were talking about me? When had I marked Bri? I had never marked her, never intentionally. And I thought that it was impossible to mark someone without that intention.

_**I'm still marked?**_

_Faintly. Few others would recognize it for what it is._ _Kurama would recognize it, if he was searching for it. You're lucky, he hasn't thought to seek it out. Quite interesting, as Kurama has the clearest mind I know._

He was right. I hadn't thought to look for it.

_**Why are you telling me this?**_

_You wanted to know how I met him. I, too, fell in love with Youko Kurama. He rejected me, though we remained friends, partners in our goal for lordship. I obtained the title, but I lost the friendship and trust. I do not wish the same for you._

I remembered that irony very well. Yomi had always pursued my affections, though I more than only that once turned him down. I think sometimes that his rashness and thirst for adventure was in part caused by that fact.

_**I'm sorry.**_

I chuckled to myself. Even facing her past, Bri held compassion for someone she didn't even know.

_Don't be. It wasn't meant to be. But I think for you, it is._

_**I wish I were so confident.  
**_

_You didn't answer the question._

**_Do you know Koko Wolf, my cousin? In the other time stream, she committed suicide, or at least that is what I was led to believe by our mother, Tsuki Sawaguchi. We shared one common dream, the two of us. We wanted to do foreign exchange in school to Japan. I went a few months after her death. Kurama was my host for the exchange. I lived with his family for three long years before I reversed everything by killing my mother before her birth._**

As if he hadn't stopped speaking, Yomi continued his own story.

_I met him in Gandara. We both wanted to steal the same loaf of bread and ended up taking the whole stand with us._

Yomi and Bri laughed, and I couldn't help but join. What a memory to bring up at this time.

_We weren't quite the legendary thieves then._

Indeed.

**_Everyone has to start out small_**.

_And everyone starts over small, as well._

Yomi spoke softly again, obviously after Bri had left.

_If there was ever anyone who deserved you, Youko, it is this woman. I know that you, too, love her. Why are you still waiting?_

The tape stopped after a few minutes, or was it several? I don't know. I didn't pay it any attention. I stared at her sleeping, still sleeping in her bed. Kuronue slipped back into the room, the silence a comforting envelope.

"You all lied to me," I said. Bri's ears flicked in her sleep, her tail shifting the covers unconsciously. She would not wake for some time. "Kept it from me."

"It's what she wanted," Kuronue said. He sat down on the armchair and curled his single golden tail around his body protectively. "She didn't want to hurt you again."

Neither of us stopped staring at her.

"Every time I walked into her house, your home, this strange déjà vu feeling all but consumed me. When we went to Sammy's pizza restaurant or the DDR arcade. Even just catching the trolley in Nemoi District. Like I'd done them all a million times before. Then when we got to the Chronodom, it was like we'd been there, lived there. As if it were a home-away-from-home for us."

"Bri always acted as if she'd lived there," Kuronue said. "And she knew the Triple-DR system like she knows how to paint. No human should have recognized that machine."

"She was never actually human," I said, half-joking. She'd grown up in the human world, acted human, but never was really human. I sighed. "I don't understand."

"The great Youko Kurama, unable to understand something as simple as love," Kuronue said. His tone was bitter. He paused, regarding me calmly. It dawned on me that this was perhaps the way I had looked myself on numerous occasions. It looked strange on my old friend's face. "You remember the day you gave me that pendant?"

I paused, the pain still fresh even after a thousand years. "Yes…it was the same day I sent the assassin after Yomi."

"Have you ever once thought of why I treasured that jewel so much that I would throw away my own life for it?"

I stared at Bri. She was sleeping so blissfully unaware…

"No. I didn't."

"It's because I felt you were my brother, Kurama. The only one I could trust in the whole world. I feel the same way about Bri. I'm threatening a lot more than your balls if you hurt her, Kurama. I just wanted you to know that."

"I love her."

"I know. But there are ways to be blind that even Yomi couldn't imagine."

…_End Flashback_…

The way she ran from me, spoke to me, brought memories back. Clear ones that I hadn't known were possible to have. She had run from me once before, back when she was still sorting out her Empathe skills. Back when I was still unsure of the love that I felt for her, too comparative between Maya and her. I knew where she would go. She always went to certain places when she was upset. I shivered at the thought.

Fur sprouted from my skin and my clothes shrank away with my body. Foxes were never clothed in their fox form, but the clothes they carried were still intact when they switched. The familiar black nose lengthened from my human one and I knelt on all four dainty paws. I rarely took this form any more, but I knew the nose was best in it. I slipped out of the room and followed Bri's trail away from the hotel.

Now I could smell it.

I could smell my own mating scent, though it wasn't quite as strong as it would have been had I actually mated with her. Bellflowers, lingering chocolate and rainbow trout. I could smell her sweat, both from fear and from the exertion of acting Hamlet out. Catnip and the ocean, and, faintest of all, the scent of Kansas wheat and coconuts. Paint and oil, of roses and cherry blossoms.

The smells of Bri.

My own little kitten, the one I had loved for far longer than when I met her first.

I found her in the woods, stumbling and tripping over the underbrush. She was drawn to the woods, to the field. Just like any fox would be, like any cat in need of a safe haven in a tree. The salt in her tears had left the trail blatant.

…Bri…

I had to get away from him, from here. Why had I even bothered to come back? Kurama was smart—he would have found out eventually, and he had. Why was I so stupid? I stumbled over a log, fallen branches and leaves, heightened ground and animal's burrows. I could hear the stream—how ironic, my choice in death.

Ophelia's death.

I stumbled through the thicket, the branches scratching at my cheeks. Blood dripped down my face, down my neck. I didn't care, I never would care again. All that mattered was the water, the watery death that I needed, needed more than anything else. If Kurama followed me—which he was bound to—he would only find my body.

…Kurama…

I merely followed her, waiting patiently for her to stop. She would, once she thought she was safe. A place I knew that she loved to go was the Chronodom, in that other room. She always came out smelling of hot springs. It was a secret pleasure of hers, I knew that from my very-opaque memories now. The memories made me realize that even if I had ever once been uncomfortable around Bri, it was only when she was upset at me. I would never be able to remain uncomfortable with Bri.

With my mate.

Bri stopped short, her tail twitching in agitation, worry. For a moment, I thought she'd seen me. I watched her glance around, her ears flicking at every sound. Her eyes were cloudy, puffy and red from crying. Once assured that "no one" was there, she collapsed in the clearing, trees thick around her. She was by a stream, rushing water the only sound aside from her soft sobs.

…Bri…

I collapsed just short of the stream. What had possessed me to tell him? I can't believe I told him, I can't believe I even came back. My parents were both dead—Sakyo was no longer the same person as Gun Wa—even Koko was different. A mother. Gina and Gunner were barely more than my teachers now. Who was I kidding?

Who was I kidding?

I couldn't live with this life.

I can't live with this life any longer.

I lunged for the stream and dove head-first into the roiling, mad waves.

…Kurama…

I dove past the thicket, my heart jack-jack-jacking in my chest. She's going to drown herself, a fire fox can't handle water for long. I leapt into the stream after her, my little fox's body rushing in the fast current. Her body floated on the surface, relaxed as if she were going for a mid-afternoon swim.

I knew better.

_Bri!_

Her head jerked out from beneath the surface, wide blue eyes settling on me. In her panic, she lost the buoyancy and fell beneath the waves again. A breath, a quick paddle for angle and I dove, dove, down to her sinking form. I was tiny in this form, but strong. I found the tip of her tail and tugged her toward the shore. I could do nothing more until she was on the beach.

…Bri…

A fox…Kurama? I didn't know, couldn't know. A fire fox can't swim anyway. I let myself sink. Who cared? Who cared anymore, if I was dead, the world would be lovely again. I could watch from my little white restaurant whiteboard place again. I didn't need to be alive to live.

Even though I could feel myself slipping, I could still think clearly. Why was that? I'll never know. Life never has answers any more. I need answers, my head hurts, everything is spinning, spinning, twirling out of my control. I never had control. Bluebells saved me the first time I fought—I can't even fight! I was never meant for the battlefield.

…Kurama…

I tugged at her tail, pulling, yanking her to shore. She grew heavier with every passing second. I used my own nine tails to plunge against the current. I pulled her, pushed her, nudged her up onto the leafy banks of the stream. I leapt atop her chest, forcing water from her lungs.

Kuronue is going to kill me!

…Bri…

Tiny paws forced at my lungs—why can't I breathe?

I cough, choke—what is that?

Is the fox trying to kill me?

Or save me?

…Kurama…

Breathe! Breathe, damn it!

I let the changes take over, let my body transform back into Youko, the strongest of the three forms. I pushed at her chest again and turn her as water falls from her mouth, from her lungs.

Breathe, Bri!

…Bri…

Now there are hands…

Hands?

Kurama?

Water…

Is that water?

In my lungs?

Did I drown?

Am I here?

Half an hour left of life…

What would I do?

Would I tell?

Would I tell him…

I love him.

Love…

Kurama.

Water…

Darkness.

Black.

Blank…

_Blank…_

_Blank…_

…

…

…

>.>

(glance)

. 

(glance)

I am so evil.

Seriously.

I added this chapter in after much deliberation. I've been rewriting this again and again since I finished writing it. I finally decided to do this because it just dawned on me that it would be pretty ironic. I mean, Bri called Koko a coward at the very beginning for committing suicide (even though Koko really didn't do it).

So!

Who wants to wait till Monday (my next day off) to find out if Bri's still alive or not? (grin)

Reviewers: (holding pitchforks and torches) GET HER!

UK: Eep! (runs and hides) And here is Kurama to answer your questions from the last chapter.

Kurama: (blink blink) Er…hello, reviewers. (glares in the general direction UK ran off in) I'm just as upset with her as you are. Well, I suppose I will answer these questions as best I can.

Sillylittlenothing: As I'm sure UK already alerted you, the last chapter was not the final chapter. Although we are in a suspended time zone, I am working my hardest to revive Bri and I hope that I will be able to save her. I will probably follow her in death, as Romeo did, if I do not. The loss would be far greater even than Kuronue's death.

Rayne-chan: (ahem) Kindly remove the saddle and reins from my back, I am not a horse, I am a kitsune. I agree, UK has made quite the mess of our lives. (glares in the general direction UK ran off in) I will be sure that she suffers, should anything happen to Bri. I also assure you, that once I have saved Bri, I will kiss her into oblivion. (grins hopefully)

Peeka-chan: Thank you for that quite wonderful image, I will be sure to use that once Bri and I have wed. (toothy grin) But please refrain from throwing things at my mate, or face the consequences. (growl) Oh, yes, Yomi is actually bi-sexual. Most demons are.

Lucifer: It is not as if I had a choice in "allowing" Bri to get away. I will be sure to rectify the situation as soon as possible. I hope that the next chapter does tell, or a certain kitten will be very uncomfortably hugged by one of my wonderful Makai plants.

SilverDragon: I agree. She is evil. We should do something about that.

WindRacer: (glower) I hated that chapter. If anything should happen to Bri due to my actions, I will be certain to harm a certain kitten.

Kuramafan: You really think so? (hopeful) Thank you for the comments. I hope to see Bri's face when I tell her I love her, too. Let us try to strangle a certain kitten for the next chapter as soon as possible.

Aisuhana: I am glad that you are enjoying UK's story, and I hope that things go well for Bri and myself. I quite enjoy the latest image that UK concocted. I just hope that I can employ the technique on Bri soon…

Bookworm: I won't let Bri die. If there's anything I can do, I won't let her die. I believe UK has attained the position of part time cashier. Tonight was her first time out at the registers and she quite enjoyed learning how to bag and ring up things.

Charter Mage Z: Believe me, UK will write the remaining chapters or I will personally hunt her down.


	22. To Live, Love, and Learn

UK: (looks all around for her reviewers, whom have all taken up pitchforks in search of her) Okay, I'm here.

Reviewers: (holding pitchforks and glaring)

UK: Um…I have a super-long chapter for you. It's good. Bri is…I'll let you read. Anywho, I kinda rewrote this about seven or eight times…

Reviewers: Aaaaand?

UK: I don't own YYH. (crying heard as lights go down and the chapter begins)

Chapter 22: To Live, Love, and Learn

…Kurama…

I sighed and collapsed beside her. She was okay. Bri was okay. Her breathing was even, deep, as though she were merely sleeping. I chuckled to myself. Only Bri would sleep after nearly losing her life. Or so I told myself. She looked so calm, so unlike the deer-in-the-headlamps that she'd been only a few moments before. A few hours? I don't know. Time had seemed to just stand still.

I'd panicked. I never panicked. Inari, this girl was playing with my mind without ever meaning to. Or rather, sometimes meaning to. Why had she kept away from me? Waited so long? Koenma had probably given her permission for birth long before, probably to be in the same age area as I was again.

So why did she wait?

…_**Flashback…**_

"_Okay, fine," Bri sighed. I could tell she was still against telling me. Why was I pushing so hard for this information? She wasn't an enemy. Why was I being so nosy? " I…The love that we had seems…shallow now. It seems like we were caught in the moment, instead of fully in love. Like if we were separated for a while, we wouldn't feel the same when we came back together again."_

I closed my eyes, sipping my hot chocolate. I cared too much for this girl. I need to let her go, help her find her boyfriend. I wondered if she still felt the same way about him, or if it was stronger. Maybe I had a chance—NO! That is not a path I should take. This man was probably around my age, she deserved him.

"_Is this 'shallow love', as you call it, still the way that you feel, Bridget?" I knew she hated it when I used her full name. It made her think about what I'd said—and I needed her to think about herself, which was asking a lot of her, I knew. Bri sipped at her own hot chocolate, contemplating. _

"_I am more in love with him now than I was before," she admitted softly._

_The pang in my chest almost overrode my desire to continue to help her. "Then why?"_

"_I don't know what he'll think. And if he rejects me, which is highly possible, I will not be able to take it."  
_

_Oh, Bri…I want you to be happy. Why don't you want the same?_

"_But what if he says yes?"_

_She smiled sadly. A tear slid down her cheek, and I knew that I would never be able to ask her to love me the same way. "I will wait for him to make that decision. Because if I do anything, everything will fall to pieces around me."_

…_**End Flashback…**_

All that time, she was waiting for me to make the first move. And yet she knew that I wouldn't because she knew that I would be searching for her boyfriend to convince him to ask her. Why had she created such a paradox? We both had, I suppose. I am as much to blame as she is.

Thirty-one and sixteen…

Human world will reject us.

I know it.

My mother…

Her family may accept us. But where does that leave us?

Us?

I'd better slow down. Stop. Think. She may still not want to be together. It is wrong, after all. I'm her teacher. I'm older than her by fifteen years, a substantial amount of time in Human world. I've been her friend since she was only three years old, I'm more like her father or godfather than her boyfriend.

"So this is where the wench went."

I growled under my breath, purposefully pushing my body between Bri and _him_. Toki. He was still wearing nothing but the sash, his sword strapped to his lean, powerful back by a leather cord.

"What do you want?"

"My mate, fox. Is that a problem?"

"She does not want you."

"She's my mate. I don't care what she wants." His golden eyes narrowed. "Why are you protecting her? You have no claim."

"Bri has been reborn—there's no claim you have on her, either." I leapt to my feet, still weary from the task of pulling Bri from the racing stream.

Toki glared at me. His temper was quick to light—an obvious flaw.

"Who the hell do you think you are? She's mine!"

Both my ears were pressed back against my skull, all nine of my tails flicking. I rarely showed this much anger outwardly—a sign that I was either getting old or I was letting too much get to me.

"Bri is no one's property. If you want her, you'll have to go through me."

Toki glared, his golden eyes matching mine curve for curve. "So be it. To the death, fox."

Bri did say this one was an idiot… "Wise up and leave, before I kill you. Bri won't like your blood on my hands."

He roared and rushed at me with all the strength he had within him—his bane. I flicked my Rose Whip out from just beneath my neck and cut him down. Toki didn't even have time to see the reddish pulse of the thorns before they hit all of his major vital organs.

Dead before his nerve endings even had time to send the pain signals.

Bri stirred, coughing slightly. For a moment, she just stared at the ground. I moved to intercept her sight of Toki. She didn't need to see him, alive or dead. The moment she saw me, she panicked, throwing her arms up against the nearest tree.

"Oh, kami, I'm in hell, aren't I!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs. "Damn it, I had to do it, I just had to—"

I smiled and knelt beside her, and pressed her gently against my chest, her chin on my shoulder. Her panicking ceased after a moment or two and I drew back again to look her in the eye.

"You're not dead, Bri."

She blinked owlishly at me. "K-Kurama…I…I…"

I smiled in what I hoped was a disarming way. "You don't have to explain anything you don't want to. I understand."

Bri blinked slowly, breathing deeply. The rushing of the stream was all that I could hear, that drowning out her soft breaths easily. Slowly, she pressed the heels of her palms against my shoulders and pushed me back.

"I don't know what to do. Say. Be. I'm…I'm not the same. You're not the same. But…"

"But I still love you just the way you are, Bri," I said. "I love _you_, Bri. I just don't understand you sometimes."

Both blue eyes narrowed at me. "Youko Kurama, what the hell were you thinking!"

I blinked. "Wh—"

"First you weasel everything out of me, then you sneak around behind my back to find out stuff, and now you save me from drowning myself cause I can't figure you out and now you say you can't understand me! I don't understand you!"

I stared at her, and then I started laughing. I couldn't help it. What she said made no sense at all, but to her I bet it made all the sense in the world. I was probably making her mad—but I'd rather her be mad at me than trying to die again. Instead, I was glad to hear her laughter join mine. She threw her arms around my neck.

"I missed you…" she whispered. Her cheek rested on mine, and I could feel the warm salt of tears trickling between them. "I missed you so much. And you were right there…"

"Why didn't you just tell me, Bri? Why?"

"Scared."

"Of what, Bri?"

"You wouldn't…you wouldn't remember me. Again. Like with Youko…back in the Makai." She sniffled, her slender shoulders tight in my grasp. "I couldn't…"

"I'm so sorry…my little kitten."

She paused a moment. "Fox boy, why do I smell blood?"

I blinked, for once at a loss. "Er…Toki…"

Bri coughed against my shoulder, and then I felt an odd pain—she bit me! Bri bit me!

"Ow!" I murmured as she glared at me.

"Presumptuous, aren't you," she said.

"I only—"

"_Very _presumptuous."

"Now hold on a second—"

"Good thing you were right or I would've killed you."

I blinked, unsure of what to say. Kuronue would have laughed at me, and Hiei would have rolled his eyes, ever-so-slightly.

Bri sighed and climbed shakily to her feet. I jumped up and offered my side silently to steady her.

"You almost drowned," I murmured. She buried her face into my chest, her arms draped around my waist. "I almost lost you again, Bri. Don't _do_ that to me again."

"Hey, I had to watch you die in my arms before, you idiot," she muttered against my side, her voice slightly muffled. "I was only getting you back."

I chuckled softly. "We're even, then."

"We can't stay together, Kurama," she murmured. I could feel my t-shirt beginning to grow damp with her quickly-cooling tears. "It's wrong…you're my teacher."

"We won't be together in Human world," I said, tightening my hold on her shoulders. "I can't be myself without you any more, Bri… I'd rather die than not be with you."

"Don't make good on that remark," she said darkly. "I did it and look where it's landed me."

I chuckled softly and carefully lifted her up into my arms. "I won't so long as you won't. Again." Slowly, I kissed away her tears, the somewhat-dried water of the river. I licked at it, teasingly. She giggled under me, crying for me to stop. I didn't stop. I was addicted to her taste. The crook in her neck, the space where her human ears should have been. I nipped at the rim of her true ears, only to grab hold of them gently and tug.

"Quit it, Kurama!" Bri shrieked. "What are you trying to do, eat me?"

I nodded happily.

"I'm not a mouse."

I shook my head.

"Then what are you doing?"

I yanked her ear hard.

"What do you want?"

I drew back, lazily smiling and staring into her eyes. One sky, one ocean. I held her closer, as I had never done and yet had many times before.

"You," I whispered.

I softly kissed at her face, at her cheeks. The lids of her eyes, the temples beneath her bangs. I nipped at her chin, held it lightly in my teeth. And then, I took her lips on mine.

My Bri, my kitten, my mate…

She tasted of hot chocolate and so much more.

Years of false hope, of denial, of admitting freely that I could not love her because she was too young drained away. All that mattered was that she was here, I was here, and everything else could be shoved off into Limbo with the younger Toguro. It's coming home and finding out that everything you had always held dear was now clearer, greater, better than when you left that makes this life a joy to live.

Slowly, Bri broke the kiss, staring at me. I could see the worry still in her eyes.

"What is your mother going to say?" Bri asked quietly.

I was silent for a moment. What would my mother say? She was nearing her fifty-sixth birthday, and I hadn't stated any interest in anyone. Would she believe that I'd fallen for one of my math students? I nearly laughed at the thought.

I held her tighter. "I don't know. I missed this…and I didn't even realize it."

Bri smirked against my neck. "Try actually knowing it for thirty-one years."

…Bri…

We headed back toward the hotel, neither of us wanting or needing to talk. He had proved me wrong in every way. I sighed and leaned against him, my strength back, but not really wanting to lose the cozy warmth of his body. I stepped away for a moment, only to jump on his back and tumbled with him to the ground; half hoping he would kiss me first. I missed his kisses.

Kurama grinned broadly, reminiscently of Youko. I had never been this happy to see a glimpse of the old silver-haired fox.

"What are we going to tell the others?" he asked.

I giggled. "Most of them already know, or did you forget that?"

He brushed his lips against mine, but murmured again. "You know what will happen if we come out in the open about this in Human World."

"We don't have to come out in the open in Human World. It can be a secret, right? Do you care?" I glanced up at him hopefully. He had already stated that he didn't care, but sometimes even he could get caught in the moment, I think.

He glanced to the side. "Slightly. My mother…"

I sighed. He still hadn't answered that question. "Yeah. I don't want to hide from Kaasan."

He chuckled softly and, in one swift move, pulled me over his shoulders and into his arms. "I've been hiding from her for years."

I yanked a tuft of his silky red hair. "We have to fix that."

Kurama nodded, though I could see the pain in his deep green eyes. He had been hiding from Kaasan for years—twice as long as I'd hidden from him.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, still holding on to a thick strand of hair. It felt soft, like the outer petal of a rose, and yet it was tufty, fur-like. Just like his fox form's fur. With a start, I realized it was the first time I'd seen his fox form, though I'd kind of been hazy and underwater and all that. I had never become my own fox form, though I knew I could.

"We should head back to the hotel, first of all." I could see him thinking, see the wheels in his head turning, chugging like an old-time clock's cogs. "We still have to face the aftermath of this Tournament of Trials. The judges were waiting until you awoke."

I blushed and I squirmed out of his arms. I could walk on my own two feet. I walked away from him, playing hurt as I strolled aimlessly toward the hotel. "Oh, thanks, make me feel bad about going to sleep. I was exhausted, okay? Playing a guy with that many lines is draining."

"You make an excellent Hamlet, Bri. But I think that having Horatio fall for Hamlet in the duration of the play would have made it that much sweeter a play."

"Um, hello, this is Shakespeare we're talking about here," I said, rolling my eyes. "If he would have thought of it, he would have done it."

Kurama chuckled and nestled his chin in the crook between my neck and shoulders. "I was alive, if you recall, when he was writing these plays. Demons enjoyed them because Shakespeare used iambic pentameter—a language before only reserved for higher authorities in Spirit World. He didn't realize that."

I laughed. "So _that's _where the old man got it. To think, we have gods to thank for such long-winded monologues that are so hard for people to understand."

"Not so difficult if you pay attention."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. I bet Okuro is getting worried about us. The old bat is bound to get antsy when the room's empty and he has no one to prank. Speaking of which, Kurama, I still have to get him back for the Chronodom incident." I grinned over my shoulder at him. "Any ideas?"

Kurama chuckled. "You don't think he had help? I was the one who asked him to do it, though for different reasons than I think you imagine."

I smirked darkly. "Then you had best watch yourself, Youko Kurama. I have grown up my second childhood with an expert prankster."

He murmured into my ear, tickling the fur at the edge with the tip of his tongue. His voice sent shivers down my spine. "I look forward to seeing exactly what Bridget Kokomo Wolf can accomplish."

I laughed nervously and broke away from his grasp. "I have an idea in the meantime. Let's not say anything about the change in dynamics for a bit. Just until after we've gotten back home."

Kurama nodded. "Things are confusing enough without adding this to the mix."

"Are you suggesting that _you_, of all people, are confused? What a concept."

He shoved me toward the hotel and we walked in as if we had never changed. Kuronue spotted us across the lobby.

"You're finally awake?" Kuronue asked. "Why didn't you change?"

I blinked, glancing down at my rumpled clothes. "Er…I forgot?"

"Oh…" He spoke in my head, for the first time in months. _Something different 'bout you, Bri. Are my balls safe?_

_Huh?_

_The last time you forgot to change, you said you'd have my balls if I made a big deal out of it._

_Oh. Sorry. I'm going to change; you let the others know I'm awake._

Kuronue stared at me as I brushed past him and onto an open elevator. When I came back down, everyone was waiting for me, including Yomi, Koenma, Botan, Gunner, and Gina. Jun and Yume nearly tackled me to the ground upon sight. They were both shouting at the top of their lungs about sweet snow and chocolate.

"We'll get some later!" Koko shouted, laughing. "Jun, off!"

"Yume, Bri has to breathe, honey," Keiko said, pulling her daughter away. The little girl looked so much like Yusuke; she had even cut her hair short. But it looked more like when his hair was ungelled. I guess Keiko had stopped her short of that, at least.

Gina and Gunner offered a hand on either side of me.

"You going to get hurt if they keep doing that, Wolf Cub," Gina said with a grin. "I heard your art got a thirty point."

"Yeah," I smiled. "Well, are we going to go see the judges and find out what's up or are we going to stand here and gawk at me for the next millennium?"

"Some of us won't live that long," Gina pointed out. "Humans, you know."

I sighed. _Kuronue, how many of your friends died?_

_Too many to count. We'll have to go through that a great deal, I'm afraid. Unless Gina, Gunner, Gun Wa, and the others decide to mate with demons._

_Like that'll happen._

_You never know._

I sighed inwardly. Koenma and Yusuke led the way, our gaggle of friends, family, and other assorted oddballs following into another room of the hotel. The three judges stood against one wall. We gathered around them in silence and waited.

"Welcome to the last Trial of the Tournament," The Moon said. "Or rather, the truth of the tournament that we ran."

"The truth?" I stared at her. "The threats weren't real?"

"They were," The Sky said shortly "But they were not from us." He ran a hand absently over his potbelly, considering.

"There is much you know, and yet do not," The Star said. "There is much you think you know, but is not true. Please, be seated. This will take some time."

The three pulled their cloaks from over their heads.

I gasped.

…

…

…

Are ya'll happier with me now? (covers head in fear of retaliation) So, why do you think Bri gasped when the trio pulled their cloaks from over their head? Hmm? We all know who one is, I think. But _who_ are the others? And will Kaasan accept Bri and Kurama's relationship? Will they ever tell anyone else in Human World?

Kuramafan: I am evil…really…And sarcasm is a foreign language to me…I can barely tell when my characters are using it, and I'm the one writing! And yes…I don't think Bri was even under the water for a whole minute when Kurama got to her.

Sillylittlenothing: Bri…ish alive. Thank God, lol. I don't think I made it very tear-jerk worthy but you let me know, kay? Kurama ish very intimidating when angry…O.O Meep. I know.

Sonya: SHE LIIIIIIIVES! (laughs) I just wanted to do that. So Bride of Frankenstein, though I never did see that movie…O.O

Peeka-chan: Thank you for hiding me. (sighs) Why do people get so upset with cliffies? I don't usually get that upset. Kurama enjoyed it, you know he did, the naughty little dog…(With real foxes, the girl is called a vixen and the guy is a dog, while the kids are the kits. Who knew Kurama had something in common with Inu Yasha, eh? Lol ) Keep those nice thoughts, they only get better as you let your imagination go…Eheh. Look at me, the naughty 19 year old hentai I am…

Lucifer: Nope. Just about, though. Scared ya, didn't I? (grins)

Sally: O.O You can stop…really…I'm not that evil…am I?

Rayne: I'm not that mean…T.T

Charter Mage Z: Dun worry, Bri ish all right. Kurama did hunt me down, and then he made me rewrite the chapter until he liked it. I hope that Shiori accepts them, though, I think that's probably going to be the last obstacle.

Bookworm: (sweatdrop) Um, Kurama, I most likely would have written anyway, but it wouldn't have been any good…Thank you for not spearing Kurama or me with the pitchfork, though. That wouldn't have been very nice. Though, fish-face in the new DVD definitely tried to spear Kurama through. I thought about giving the reviewers javelins instead, but I didn't want to be killed any worse than necessary. I'm very pleased with the reaction to the "biggest cliffie in history".

SilverDragon: I think Kuronue would have tied Kurama up on Tokyo Tower by a g-string, his body painted bright red, and called world news in to videotape how he got down. You almost cried? O.O I didn't think it was tear-jerk worthy at all…I don't know the power of my own words. I really don't.

WindRacer: She lives! Okay, randomness ish good. Me like randomness. Check out the reaction I gave to SilverDragon's review. What would Kuronue do to Kurama if Bri died?

BlackCello: I was sorta waitin' on ya, cakes. Go to sleep so that you can give me a nice long review on this one! Lol


	23. Secrets and Saviors

UK: (sings) And I almost wrote a song about you today, but I tore it all up and threw it away! And I almost…had you…

Reviewers: (holding bleeding ears) STOP! PLEASE! FOR THE LOVE OF KURAMA!

UK: Kurama? Where!

Kurama: OO Eeep.

UK: (pounce) YAY! Ish KURAMA!

Bri: Ahem.

UK: Oh…sorry…Bri…eheh…

Bri: UK most definitely does not own YYH or the Coyote Ugly comment. She barely owns me.

UK: It's true! (cries dramatically) It's all true!

Chapter 23: Secrets and Saviors

…Bri…

I gasped, though I hadn't heard the noise from anyone else in the room. Kurama's eyes were wide. Weren't the others surprised at all? Were they just shocked silent? I stared at the one who had called herself The Moon.

"Yue Junana…"

The Star also held a face I knew, though I'd never met her in person. "And the angel Gabriel-sama…"

And The Sky, whose potbelly should have given him away. "Inari-sama, the god of rice."

"Please, sit down," Yue said. "Yomi-kun, can you get that _thing_ I asked you for earlier?"

Chairs appeared out of no where, but no one sat down.

"Of course, Tsukihana."

"What the hell?" I murmured.

"Yomi-kun is my mate." Yue looked chagrined, something I had never seen before. "I'm _really_ sorry for what I've put you through, Bri…It was a big plan, and unfortunately, I had to do it…"

"Okay, now I'm confused," I said. "If I wasn't confused before, now I've got the whole damn shelf hitting me on the head. What the hell?"

"Bri Wolf, cursing," Yue chuckled. "This _is_ bad."

Koenma placed a hand on my shoulder. "We will explain everything, Bri. It is a little complicated, you see."

"You're in on this too, toddlerness?" I groaned and put my head in my hands. "I thought it was bad enough that this lifetime's bully is involved. And the angel of fate _and_ the god leader of the foxes."

"The only ones who don't know anything are the two of you," Kuronue said quietly. "I got told a few years ago."

"You're in on this too?" I stood straight and stared at him. "And what do you mean, 'two of you.'"

"I am uninformed as well," Kurama said. "What is going on?"

The others all looked hopelessly at each other, before finally my aunt spoke up.

"To put it bluntly…we've been trying to get you two back together without messing around with Spirit law _and _without being threatened of various body parts," Gunner said, leaning against the wall. "You two both have a tendency to do that now."

I blushed. "Hey!"

"It's true, but that's not why we were involved," Yue said. "It was Gaby's idea to get you back together once you agreed to be reborn. We wanted to test you."

"Wait, who are you, exactly?" I asked. She wasn't exactly dodging around the details. If she knew the angel of fate well enough to call her "Gaby", there was something more to her.

"I was getting to that," Yue chastised. "The old goddess of the moon finally kicked the bucket about twelve years ago, and I was the human who replaced her. Gods choose their heirs by picking out abnormal people. I was it. And _you _are it. Well, both of you."

"W-w-w-wait," I stammered. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Gabriel smirked. "Inari and I are planning on dying here in a few years. But we wanted lovers, like us, to take over our post. Plus, we wanted to watch a true romance again. Very few of those go round these days, you know."

I blinked. "Are you on crack?"

Inari chuckled, his great belly rolling under his cloak. "No, my dear, we are not, as you say, 'on crack'. Being a god becomes tiring after a while."

"Don't I know it," Koenma muttered.

"And entertainment becomes scarce after a time," Inari continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Foxes and cats tend to be very stubbornly opposed to one another. But when we saw that a quarter cat and a fox were so much attracted to one another, we couldn't pass up the chance. We had to test it."

"So you sent Tsuki after us?"

Yue laughed. "I _am_ Tsuki. And like I said, I'm sorry for what I put you through. I guess I was kind of jealous of you. You found your love without even losing your virginity. I found mine and killed him before I figured it out."

I glanced over my shoulder at Gun Wa, who had turned a nice shade of green. "My Uncle Gun Wa?"

"Yes and no," she giggled, without explaining. "Your family has a strange way of naming their children. Not a one of you has a name of your own nationality."

"That would be our father's doing," Gunner said. "He was getting tired of Jennifer and James running in the Wolf family."

I had never met my grandfather, James Wolf the XXIV, but I don't think I would want to.

"So, let me get this straight," I said. "The new goddess of the moon, the god of rice, and the angel of fate got together to somehow make Kurama and I get back together for their own entertainment?"

"And to make you and him the new god of rice and goddess of fate," Yue said.

"Oh."

I didn't know what to say.

I glanced at Kurama. He stared back. We both shrugged slightly and turned back to the three who had orchestrated the whole thing.

"What about Kurama being Yomi's heir?" I asked. "Would that be a problem or is there someone else?"

"Yomi and Yue will take care of that," Inari said, shoving his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Will you two take the jobs?"

I stared at him blankly. "We have a choice?"

"Of course."

I glanced at Kurama. "What do you think?"

He smiled. "This is your decision, Bri."

"Oh, no you don't, fox boy, you're not getting out of it that easy," I said and yanked on his hair again—hard. A few strands pulled out and pooled at the junction of his hair and my hand. He winced, belatedly. I knew it didn't really hurt.

"If this is what you want, I will follow you," Kurama whispered, just inches from my lips. "If it is not, I will follow you still."

I sighed and stared over at Yue and Yomi. At Koko and Hiei. At Yusuke and Keiko. Ayame, Gun Wa. Kuwabara, Yukina. Botan, Koenma. Gunner, Gina, Yume, and Jun. All of my friends, my family. Some of them would die far before I would. I stared at last at my brother, Kuronue, the only one in my immediate family once again. Marion and Ichigo had left me in death.

"I have one question first," I said, releasing Kurama. I kept the strands I'd loosed and toyed with them as I spoke. "Did you have anything to do with the death of my mother and father?"

Yue sighed. "Yomi said that you discovered our handiwork of the three upstairs."

"Yeah. About that. You three weren't the original organizers of this tournament, were you?"

"No," Yue said. "Sakyo managed to live through the tournament stadium's collapse before and somehow managed to revive Karasu. I'm surprised the crow's still alive. He escaped back to the Makai shortly after he discovered our identities."

"What about the third one?"

Yue smirked. "Just a little mouse demon. I managed to have myself a little snack." She laughed. "Didn't you see my so-called father? I'm all cat now, sweetheart."

"The bellflowers," I said. "The ones that saved me when I was seven."

"Oh, that was me," Inari grinned. "Did you like those? We even revived Buck so that you could see him again."

I laughed nervously. "Great…"

"Yeah, well. It was my so-called father who organized this all with Sakyo," Yue said with a shrug. "Only it was just a normal tournament. It was Gaby's idea to make it all comprehensive like that."

"You would have won hands-down anyway," Gabriel said. "I just did not wish the kit to be killed before she had the chance to do anything."

I gulped.

"Ga-by!" Yue shouted. "Cut it out, you're scaring her! Anyway…Yeah. It was my dad who killed your dad in the alley. And he gave your mom some kind of timed poison at work."

"Law firm," I said, thinking out loud. "She worked at a law firm…your dad was a lawyer. She worked for your dad?" I _knew_ seventeen cases were too many for a lawyer! It was his name that I saw in the paper!

"Yes, that's right," Yue sighed. "I'm sorry. I really am."

I blinked. She hadn't really done anything substantial, like in the last lifetime. It really had only been childish pranks, the kind that Kuronue enjoyed playing. "It's all right. Really. Just kind of weird, I guess. How long has all this been going on?"

"Seventeen years," Yue said. "It started with Koenma trying to get you to allow Marion near someone—it turned out to be Ichigo, one of Inari's most trusted messengers. We started trying to get you to recognize one another since you were three, though we knew we couldn't really start anything for ten years. Took three years after that to get you back together. You guys are _stubborn_."

I blushed. "Well…"

"It couldn't have been helped," Gabriel said. "It's one of the downfalls of this job." She smirked, revealing a sharp canine. "The rules clearly state that no one can directly interfere if they know what is going on. And _somebody—_" She glared at Yue. "Had a very slippery tongue and told just about everyone who could have helped."

"The only one she said nothing to was me," Yomi said. He brandished a recording tape at Kurama. "I was asked to record the conversation that would finally jog your memories. I also was asked to send that letter to Bri, knowing that you would most likely read it if she left it out in the open. The things that I did know, I knew from my own experience, not from being told everything." Kurama blushed at this, but somehow I'd already known he'd read the newspaper-clipping letter.

"Conversation?" I glanced at Yomi. "Um, hello, you _recorded _that!"

Yomi, having no eyes, appeared completely impassive to the indignant expression that I pasted clearly on my face. I sighed and let it drop.

"Okay…so, now we know," I said. "Now what?"

Yomi tossed a thick box over to Kurama, the object that Yue had sent him after. "Do you recognize that, Kurama?"

Kurama nodded, glancing curiously at Yomi. "How did you find this?"

"I retrieved the password from Kuronue of your last den in the Makai."

"Wh-what's going on?" I asked.

A hand traced my spine gently and I found myself in Kurama's arms again. I couldn't help it—I melted into the embrace, melted against the acid color of his eyes. Faintly, I heard Jun and Yume state their disgust, but I was too far caught in the gaze of a fox.

"For the second time," Kurama murmured into my ear, his breath toying with my hair, my golden fur. "And hopefully the last time, Bri."

He fell on his knee and opened the box. "Will you marry me, Bridget Wolf?"

I didn't even bother to glance at the jewelry. I pushed him on his back in a swift pounce and a quick kiss. "I said it once and I'll say it a thousand times more if you keep asking. Of course, you idiot."

He laughed and slid the ring on my finger.

I was too lost in his kiss to hear the applause.

"It's about damn time," Koko said, grinning away. "So, when's the wedding?"

Kurama glanced at me.

The rest of the room stared at me.

"What's everyone staring at me for?"

"You know same as we do that you're going to be in charge of that," Kuronue said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Kurama doesn't have a choice."

I laughed at that, though everyone was still waiting for an answer. I didn't have one to give, really. Three hundred sixty five days a year, how could I choose one to be so special? It was while I was laughing that I thought of the date.

"What year is it?" I asked slyly. I studied my ring all the while. It was simple, gold with a small blue diamond. A rare diamond. Kurama must have stolen it to give to his eventual mate, if the conversation between Yomi and him had anything to say. It was Kurama who answered, his voice thick with confusion.

"It's 2007."

"And what occurs in 2008 that does not in 2009, 2010, or 2011?"

The others blinked, but Kurama, my smart, ever-thoughtful fox, got it. "Leap year."

"The date is February 29, 2008," I said, giggling. "What do you think about that?"

Koko muttered. "_Only_ Bri would want her anniversary on the date that only comes around every four years."

"We'll figure something out for the off-year anniversaries," I said. Hey, I would remember it fairly easily then. "For now, let's just finish out our stay at the hotel. Yue?"

"What?"

"What was supposed to be the prize for this tournament?"

Yue laughed. "Control of Demon World, if you can imagine. But since you already have that…what are we supposed to do, Inari?"

The potbellied man sat down on the floor to consider her question. He looked similar to the Buddha like that. I covered my mouth to hold back a giggle, knowing that Kurama was taking over for a fat guy that looked like Buddha. After a minute, he rose again and stated with a regal air his decision.

"We will create another dimension in Spirit World. They can decide what goes into it. I am certain that the honeymooners will enjoy a time alone to procreate."

Procreate!

The others laughed and it wasn't until then that I realized I was blushing.

…

"Well, your god training will begin once Gaby and Inari kick the bucket," Yue said, shrugging. "And I don't have nothing to do until the full moon comes round again."

"I have a question," I said, glancing at Kuronue. "Will Okuro and I still have to go to school?"

"Yes. And I will still teach," Kurama said. "We can come live in the Makai, in one of my dens, if you like, Bri."

"I'd like that," I said. "We can always open up a portal to get back to school. But what about you, Kuronue?" My brother shrugged.

"I'll stay in the Nemoi house. I got my eye on a girl, anyway. Maybe we'll come join you at one of the older dens, but I still got some growing up to do."

"You got that right," Yue said dryly. "I've been staying with Yomi for a while. I'll probably move in at his castle soon enough, anyway. We got married human style a few weeks ago."

I sighed. "Looks like everything's changing again."

"Life wouldn't be what it is without change," Yue said, smiling. "I would probably still be a bad person without growing up with you, Bri."

I laughed. "Isn't it funny? You were my mother in the other time stream and now…"

"I had a lot to learn," she shrugged.

"Love, I'm going to go to bed early," Kurama said.

Kuronue and Yomi followed soon after. The others had gone to bed a long time ago.

"You know what? I never got them back for what they did to me at the Chronodom," I said. "And Yomi for the tape thing and Kuronue for a lot of things, actually. I've got an idea, though. You guys want to help?"

"Certainly, I have a few things to do a little revenge on all of them, too," Koko said, grinning.

"I know what to do to Kuronue," I said, grinning. "Take a picture of him kissing Kuwabara!"

"How do we do that, pray tell?" Koko asked sarcastically.

"Haven't you ever heard of Photoshop?" Yue grinned. "I'll get the pictures. Okay, what about my Yomi?"

I grinned. "We have some planning to do, eh?"

The three of us dissolved into discussion.

…

The next morning, Yue, Koko, and I were to be found taping photos all over the hotel. I had just finished taping one of Kurama and Yomi in the hotel restaurant when I surprised yell echoed from all the way upstairs. I raced up to the still-howling voice of my brother and watched as Kuwabara stared, lock-jawed, at the same one. Yukina, who looked about ready to burst, was giggling.

"Who—wha…—how—when?" Kuronue sputtered, staring at the picture of him and Kuwabara. His right ear was delicately suspended right under Kuwabara's chin. Yukina giggled again before commenting.

"It's very cute, Kazuma."

Her husband sputtered. "No, it's not, it's, it's…it's uncute!"

"That's not a word, Kuwabara," I pointed out.

"Tsh, I-I don't care! Look at this! I'll never be able to show my face at the practice again if they see it!"

"Sure you will," Yue said. "You just have to put a paper bag over your head. No one will recognize you at all!"

Kurama had emerged from our room, holding another picture of himself and Yomi in much the same position as Kuwabara and Kuronue were. We'd made sure to trace the outlines of the photos with a self-heating ink so that Yomi would be able to "see" them. I hadn't seen him since last night, though.

Kurama simply stared at the pictures, his face comically contorting into several different shapes that I hadn't thought possible for him. I had no idea what Yomi's reaction to them was—he had vanished shortly after morning.

"Don't worry, fox," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "I still love you."

"I wasn't worried about that," he said, now calmly composed as always. "Because it was you who committed this slander."

"WHAT!" Kuwabara and Kuronue yelled.

I stared at them. "Um…I think Gun Wa's calling for me, gotta go, bye!"

Kurama pounced on me a split second before I reached the door to the room. He had an odd glint in his eyes. The hold on my shoulders was loose, but firm enough to hold me in place without any pressure. "Apologize."

"Nope. You deserved it."

"I refuse to kiss you until you apologize."

"Where did you learn that threat, a coyote?"

"I think it's working," he said, pulling me to my feet in one swift movement. "No kisses."

"Nope."

Kurama smirked. "No kiss."

I grabbed his hair, but he stayed stock-still. Dang. I thought I had really been pulling him by his hair. "Kiss me, Kurama."

"Apology first."

I sighed. "No kiss?"

"No kiss."

"Okay, fine! I'm sorry!"

"Say it like you mean it."

I sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry, Kurama. I'm sorry I humiliated."

He kissed me, lightly. "I could get used to making you do that."

I pulled his hair again. "Shut up and kiss me, damn it."

"As you wish."

…

(It was inspired by a scene from _Coyote Ugly_. I don't own _Coyote Ugly_, either, okay?)

I sighed and stared out the window of room A2, at the empty nest of the bird that had finally flown away for migration. Gun Wa was talking about something to do with predatory movements, but that was about all I'd gotten. I wasn't paying any attention, and he probably knew it.

Everything had happened so fast, it was hard to believe I was once again Kurama's fiancée. Tonight was our wedding, a small event with only friends and family. Kaasan had been shocked to hear Kurama's plans—but she'd accepted us nonetheless. I was planning on making Kurama tell her everything, though. I didn't want to hide from Kaasan again. She was like Ichigo in many ways. A person to be protected, but I knew now that I'd rather tell her now than have to save her from another demon and _then_ explain to her what happened.

I had my dress ready, the preparations had been made. Inari had created the new dimension with us in mind, even adding several hot springs at my request. So why was I having second thoughts now? What was making these fuzzy balls bounce in my belly like so many furry cats? I loved Kurama, enough that I'd fallen for him twice.

When the class bell rang, Yue turned around in her seat and smiled at me.

"Butterflies?" she asked.

I nodded, wincing.

She glanced around, making sure no one was listening. "Don't worry. It's normal for a wedding. I had it too, until I got down to the end of the aisle with Yomi. Minute I saw him, everything was okay again."

I grinned. "I just can't believe how much you've changed."

"All because of you," she grinned back. "I wish I'd made the effort to get to know you when Keiko—sorry, Koko was still my daughter. None of this would have happened."

I smiled. "Thanks, I guess. Hey, I had a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Why did you call your group the Vacant Lot?"

She giggled and threw her hair over her shoulder. Silky and black. The kids Yomi and she would have were going to be beautiful. "I always thought that vacant lots were the most unnoticeable things in a neighborhood, because no one lived there. So, I figured if we stuck low, no one would see us until everything went through."

"You almost succeeded," I said.

"Yes…and I'm glad I didn't. But I'm also glad that Gun Wa went through with opening this school again. I think it's great that everyone is so connected to Meikou, even though you don't really see the school much."

"Yeah…I love the meaning of the word, though. Incense. It's like it's smoke. It's ever-present, and yet it disappears into the air."

Yue grinned. "You could be a poet. Uh oh…here comes the groom."

Kurama entered the classroom shortly before the bell was to ring, adjusting his watch and ring carefully as he set his things on the desk. Yue turned back around for class.

"Good morning, class. If you'll please turn in your homework, I'll introduce you to your new substitute for the next week. I'll be leaving on my trip this evening."

Kuronue piped up. "Where are you going, Minamino-sensei?"

My soon-to-be husband glared stealthily at my brother. "My honeymoon. I will be married this evening."

"Oh, how sweet!" Kita cooed. "Who's the lucky girl, Minamino-sensei?"

Kurama looked quite trapped up in front of his class, all waiting patiently for my name to fall from his lips. I tried not to laugh.

"I can't tell you who she is," Kurama said, smiling. "You all might know her, and I think she would rather keep her identity a secret. She is a former student of mine, you see."

"Ooh, Minamino getting it on tonight!" cat-called a random guy from the back of the room. Yue smirked over her shoulder at me. I'm sure my blush was deeper than Kurama's by far.

"Now, class, that is no way to treat your sensei," said a very familiar voice. In through the door slid the potbellied Inari, dressed in a black suit. Whoever said black was slimming had never met a man with a potbelly.

Kurama cleared his throat. "Class, I'd like you to meet your substitute, Enjeru-sensei."

"Good morning, Enjeru-sensei," intoned the class.

"Good morning," Inari said. "I will just watch for today, tomorrow I will be your teacher for the week."

_Not for you, huh, Bri? _Kuronue grinned.

_I'm going to be on my honeymoon. Of course not._

_The others are going to let you slide without finishing your homework. Not fair._

_Bite me._

_That's Kurama's job._

_Shut up._

_Make me._

I pushed my Empathe skills down as far as they would go, but Kuronue's voice was still able to come through, faintly.

_I'm glad you're finally happy, sis._

I smiled and waited for class to end so that I could talk to Kurama alone. We planned on telling Kaasan when we got back about Kurama and I. Not about us getting married, of course (she knew and accepted), but that we were foxes. I wasn't sure how she was going to take it. After all, she'd believed for thirty-one years that Kurama was simply her wonderful, completely human son. What was her reaction going to be when she found out she'd raised the infamous Youko Kurama, thief and kitsune?

I could only imagine what my mother and father's reactions would have been had I told them about Kuronue and myself.

I sighed and let my head fall in my arms. The class bell rang, but I stayed down. I needed to think, my whole world was spinning so fast, I was sick.

"Bri, are you all right?" Kurama's voice whispered. His hand deftly loosened the muscles that had contracted so painfully between my shoulder blades. "You look sick."

"I'm just worried about Kaasan, when we get back," I said, smiling up at him. "I'm all right, really."

"We don't have to tell Kaasan right away," Kurama said.

I scowled. "You've put off telling her for thirty-one years, Kurama, I think it's about time she knew the truth. I wish I'd told my mother and father before they…"

Kurama sighed and offered an awkward hug around the desk. "You did what you thought was right. That's all either of us can do."

I sighed and pulled back. "Yeah, but I want to do what is right. I just don't know what that is any more."

"I've lived for more than a thousand years, Bri, and I still don't know what to do in every situation," Kurama said. "Don't worry about it. You will know when it comes to you."

I chuckled softly. "You do know it's considered bad luck to see your bride before the wedding, right?"

"We don't need luck," Kurama said.

"Really. I thought you were a kitsune, Kurama, not a luck fairy."

He chuckled, nipping at my human illusion's ears. "You're so beautiful…"

"No, that's you. I'm the cute one," I grinned and licked the tip of his nose. "I have the short hair, you have the long. Hey, I know, let's just switch genders! You're the vixen, I'm the dog, and we live in a den with three little kits."

"Three?" he smirked. "I thought we'd have more."

I grinned wryly. "Maybe. We have thousands of years for that, right?"

"Right."

…

Finally, I nestled my head just under Kurama's chin, his strong arms wrapped around my waist. Our little den in the new dimension was a sweet little place. I could stay here forever, just wrapped in Kurama's arms. I could feel the slightly-sore mark on my shoulder beginning to change, take shape in the mating mark that would never go away.

I sighed and toyed with the bit of mussed, petal-soft hair that had fallen over my shoulder. It was so red, one might have thought that my husband, my mate, had bled his own hair. I let myself drift off into sleep, my hands resting on his.

_Bri…_

_Bri, wake up._

A warm caress stirred me from my sleep. I opened my eyes blearily and stared up at my lover's soft blue eyes.

Wait…blue?

"KURONUE!" I shrieked and grabbed at the blankets. I heard loud rumbling laughter, followed by a click. "YOMI! The damn HELL are you DOING!"

"Revenge," Kuronue grinned, holding up a camera.

Kurama was chuckling near the door. I hitched the sheets around my naked body and stormed out of bed.

"Kurama, when I get my hands on you…"

"You have to catch me first," he quipped, transforming into his silvery gold fox form. I growled and let my mind sink. _Fox_. _I need to go fox._ The next thing I knew I was buried beneath the blue sheets on all fours, golden fur growing from every inch of my skin. I grinned to myself and dashed after Kurama's scent.

Ah, well.

At least I'll always have Kurama.

This time.

…

…

…

Okay…you all love me now, right? Right? I'd like to thank every last one of my wonderful reviewers. Now that this story is done, anyone want to suggest a side story? I was thinking of doing one where Koko and Bri teach Hiei, Yume, Jun, and whatever Kuwabara and Yukina call their kid(s) how to ride a bicycle. Lol

If you guys want to see my deviantart account again, I did a pretty funny picture of Yusuke in a cat suit…

Oh, yeah, and sorry I didn't give ya'll any more clues about Star and Sky. Inari is a potbellied god who uses two silver foxes as his aides. But I'm sure he has more, hence Ichigo…

Oh, yes, one more thing. I AM WRITING ANOTHER KURAMA-BRI STORY! Did that get ya'll's attention? I don't know the name yet, but it's a Harry Potter X Yu Yu Hakusho X Guiding. The Guiding is the "true" Bri. I wanted to see what happened if I did it with her instead.

I love you all! Do you want any side stories? Tell, tell!

WindRacer: As you've seen, nope! Truth didn't hurt at all this time. O.o Thanks for everything!

Seeyu: Poor Kuronue…This is the last official chapter, but I will do side stories if ya'll want. Love ya!

Charter Mage Z: Sorry bout the confusion…though it woulda been cool if it was Marion and he was still alive, ne? I love Marion…poor guy…

Bookworm: Shiori. O.o Now there's one I didn't think of. Wow. You draw? Do you have a deviantart account? Add me! I'm UglyKitten! Or if you don't, go get an account and scan all your pics on there. It's a really good place for art and it's FREE! Oh, yeah…Email me to remind me to read your fics. Seriously. I forget so easily…and I'm nearing bed time now…

Kohari: Here ish new and final chapter!

Peeka-chan: As you can see, the "true" judges are already dead. () Killed by the new judges, who all happen to be gods…who want Bri and Kurama to become gods…Ish weird. I know.

Black Cello: (clutches chest) GOD, you scared me with that! You are soooo right, though…Bri wouldn't have done that at all. She's so…brusque. And strangely still womanly at the same time. O.o Ish weird. I like 'er. () Must be why I'm writing another Bri/Kurama fic now…Poor Italian dude. I wonder if he'll be able to have kids still? Meep…O.O

SilverDragon: O.O I think you got Bri's character down a little too well…cakes…

Sillylittlenothing: This is the official, final chapter. Hooray! I made it! Meep. I made it. NOW WHAT?

Kuramafan: Hooray! Everything ish revealed, over, done with, now what do I do! I'm writing a new fic, that's what! TT


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